Wasteland
by TweakerWolf
Summary: Imagine if you were living in a Wasteland, surviving as best you can after a nuclear war. Scott and Stiles travel together, trying to make the best of cards they were dealt. In another part of the Wastes, Derek tries to come to terms with his past, even managing to gather a few Betas on the way. Fallout: New Vegas AU. More in the Setting
1. Finding Isaac

Setting 1: Stiles and Scott have been friends for years and when their parents died, they took off on their own. It's hard finding work when your brother is a Werewolf, but they do their best to get by. Stiles was working as a courier, trying to make some good money for him and Scott, but then he went and got himself shot. Now he and Scott are on a mission to kill Peter, wanting him to pay. And to make matters worse, it turns out Peter is the wolf that bit Scott all those years ago, so Scott has even more of a reason to want Peter dead.

Setting 2: Derek is wandering the Wastes, just trying to find a place to live, wanting to escape his past and his family's destruction. Hoping for a fresh start, Derek made his way to the Ca/Nv border, just wanting to escape. He gathers a few Betas along the way that want to settle down somewhere nice as well. But the Legion is becoming a major problem, fighting with the NCR for dominance. Derek and the Betas travel together, trying to overcome all the hardships the Wastes offer, especially if you're a Were.

Follow these two groups as they try to find a place for themselves in the wastelands and come across various people, making some friends and even more enemies. And find out what happens when the meet each other, can they put aside their differences and band together to destroy their enemies?

* * *

Derek approached the buildings, finally crossing into what used to be Nevada. He kept his head down, not looking at any of the NCR soldiers, keeping his posture slouched so no one would think he was dangerous. After a quick glance around Derek made his way into the Outpost Headquarters to check-in, giving Major Knight his name and his status as a pilgrim. Some of the soldiers looked him over, his muscular frame and grumpy demeanor setting them on edge. As soon as he was cleared, Derek nodded his head and left the Outpost; the sun was finally setting so hopefully it would begin to cool down soon. The merchants and other civilians all eyes him as he followed the road, passing by the two statues without much of a glance. He really hated being around humans, even though none of them knew he was a Werewolf, their instincts still screamed to be wary of him. The faster he left them behind, the better; Derek couldn't stand to be around anyone lately.

As he followed the road down, he walked around all the abandoned cars, ears perked to listen for anyone approaching. He was thankful that the road seemed to be empty, all of the travelers were most likely holed up back at the Outpost. As he got further down the mountain, the breeze brought a strong smell of blood to his nose; he breathed in, determining that it wasn't human blood but some other animal. Derek was intrigued, where was the massacre? The scent quickly pulled him off the road, and he traveled along the rocks, following his nose. Within minutes he found himself at the mouth of a cave, the heavy smell of blood wafting over him.

Derek widened his senses, not wanting to be surprised by anything, but he couldn't see much from the entrance. He readied himself to enter, but remembered that there were many areas here that were still emitting radiation; it might be possible that there was some creature in here that had been exposed and died. But it was unlikely, almost every creature out in the Wastes had adapted to the radiation, they shouldn't be affected by it. Still, he glanced down at his dosimeter, making sure that the coast was clear; the badge was still in the safe color so he cautiously entered the cave. Walking slowly to reduce echoes, his eyes scanned everything, looking for the source of the blood. As he walked further in, he saw signs of a struggle, blood splatters along the wall, and small pools here and there. A few more steps and he reached a slight bend in the cave, but as he approached it, he heard a weak growl.

Derek stopped, recognizing the growl, it belonged to another Were; was it hurt or dangerous? He shifted to his second phase, ears shifting and growing, poking out from the top of his head. His tail quickly sprouted, whipping the air behind him as he prepared for a fight; teeth and claws becoming pointed. With a snarl, he jumped around the corner, teeth bared and claws extended. But the sight that met his eyes astounded him, at the back of the cave there was a young Omega covered in blood. Derek pulled back his snarl, the Omega clearly shying away from the more powerful Were in front of him. He glanced around the space, finally finding the source of blood; there was an entire family of slaughtered night stalkers, their corpses littering the floor all around the smaller wolf.

Derek pulled back, returning to his human form, "Can you speak, Omega?"

The wolf whimpered at his harsh tone but nodded his head, not wanting to upset the Alpha.

"What is your name? What happened here?"

"My name is Isaac," the wolf started, keeping his posture submissive. "I needed somewhere to stay and I found this cave. But the night stalkers attacked me, so I fought back. If you're hungry, I'll share with you, please take what you want."

Derek took a small step forward, pausing when Isaac flinched and threw his hands up to protect his head, his tail wrapping around his stomach. "I'm not going to hurt you Isaac, you seem smart enough to know better than to attack me. Are you hurt at all?"

Isaac slowly pulled his arms away from his face, ears perking up as he stared at the Alpha. He ran his fingers through his tail, an old nervous habit, " I had some bites, but they're healing kinda, I'm mostly covered in their blood."

Derek nodded his head, crouching down by one of the night stalkers, "I'm Derek by the way, just came into the area via the outpost up the hill. Are you from around here?"

"Kinda, but not really close by, I've wandered a bit, hiding out from my old gang, the Scorpions. Turns out they aren't really fans of Werewolves, so once I got turned, they tried to kill me. Hell, my father is the one that turned me in, druggie bastard!" Isaac spat, hands curling into fists.

"What do you say we get a fire going, we can cook up the night stalkers for food, and wash your shirt. You'll be killed instantly if you go near a town with that much blood on you," Derek stated, standing up once more. "Go ahead and wash off in that small trickle of water, I'll gather some brush for the fire, I'll be right back."

Isaac watched at the Alpha walked away, amazed by his ability to hide his ears and tail, he looked perfectly human. He looked down at his blonde tail, scowling, if it weren't for that, no one would have found out about his change. Standing up, he pulled his grey long-sleeved shirt over his head and dropped it in the water, soaking it as best he could. By the time Derek came back, he had washed most of the blood out, rubbing the fabric against itself to scrub it, before wringing it out and laying it over a rock to dry. He watched as Derek stacked the dry materials together before pulling out a lighter and catching it all on fire.

It wasn't long before Isaac was drawn to the warmth of the flames, even though he generally shied away from fire, his father hadn't been to kind with it. He continued to watch, crouched by the fire, as Derek shrugged off his pack and pulled over the largest night stalker. Then he brought out his claws, using them to tear apart the meat; after separating the various portions of meat, he skewered the largest pieces on sticks and held them over the flames. It was awhile before the meat was done, their partial human stomach still couldn't process completely raw meat. But as soon as it was done, Derek slowly handed Isaac one of the sticks, not wanting to startle to young Were with sudden movement. He smiled as he watched Isaac tear into the meat, he must be hungry; Derek decided to start cooking the other pieces as well, easily sliding the other cooked piece off into his lap and putting another piece on to cook.

They ate in silence, both of them focusing on the food and warmth; as soon as they finished off the stalker, Isaac laid down, curling in on himself to be as small as possible. Now that he had a full stomach, he was asleep within moments; Isaac couldn't remember the last time he had eaten that much food in one sitting. Derek sat for awhile, letting Isaac fall deeper into sleep before he finally stood up. He went and grabbed the damp shirt, dropping it closer to the fire so it would dry faster. Then he tossed on some more brush before lying back, hands tucked under his head to serve as a pillow. Sleep didn't come to him for some time, he just lie there, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about his family.

After a few hours of sleep, Derek woke as the sun started to rise, glad that the smoke had filtered out of the cave while he slept. He really hated the smell of smoke and burning wood, but he needed the fire to keep him and Isaac warm. At the thought of Isaac, he sat up and checked on the Omega wolf; he was still asleep and Derek was glad that he hadn't disappeared overnight. Derek stretched before reaching into his bag to pull out an old hoodie he had found; now he's glad he kept it.

"Hey, Isaac, wake up," Derek said, tossing his now dry shirt at him.

Isaac shot up and covered his face with his hands, crying out, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sleep in so late. Sorry, sorry-"

"Whoa, Isaac, calm down, calm down," Derek said, attempting to soothe him, lowering his voice as best he could.

Isaac blinked as his brain registered the voice, realizing it wasn't his father's. He carefully peeked out from behind his hands, catching sight of the Alpha from last night. Lowering his hands, he bit his lip, looking ashamed; he didn't look Derek in the eye, instead he was staring down at the bloody floor.

"Everything okay Isaac? I didn't mean to startle you."

"Yea, it's fine, I'm just used to rude wake up calls is all. I keep forgetting that I'm not with my dad anymore," Isaac whispered, afraid to speak too loudly and offend the Alpha.

"Well, go ahead and get dressed, the sun's coming up and it's better to start before the day gets too hot."

Isaac mutely nodded his head, reaching down and picking up the shirt he had dropped, quickly pulling it over his lean torso. Derek had tried not to stare at Isaac's battered body, he was severely malnourished; the fact that there were still purple bruises tattooing his skin told Derek that he needed a lot of care. He hadn't looked too closely the night before, but now, in the low light, he could see the bites from the night stalkers. Werewolves are supposed to heal quickly; there was no reason for him to still be bruised like that.

"So, uh, I was wondering, how would you like to accompany me Isaac? I'm new to the area and you've traveled around for a bit right? Maybe you could help me stay away from all the troublesome areas yea?" Derek proposed, adding on, "If you want to of course."

The Omega's head shot up, eyes searching Derek's face for any sign of a joke. He'd love to be traveling with someone, as long as they weren't anything like his dad; he felt vulnerable when he was alone.

"That'd be cool. Maybe you could teach me more about being a wolf?" he asked hesitantly.

"Of course, I may not be the one who turned you, but I'm an Alpha and I won't let you go untrained."

Isaac nodded slowly, "So does that mean I'll be your Beta now?"

"If you want to be, I won't force you to join me, but we can be Pack if you want, we'll both be a lot stronger," Derek explained, wanting Isaac to make his own decision; he was not going to be like Caesar.

"I think that's a good idea, and you seem strong, so that's even better for me."

"Good, here, take this then," Derek said, tossing the old white hoodie over to his new Beta. "It will help keep you a bit warm in the morning chill, sorry it doesn't have any sleeves though. But the hood will help keep your ears hidden until you learn how to control it."

Isaac stared at Derek, mouth agape, "I can control that too? That isn't just an Alpha thing?"

Derek shook his head, "Any wolf can learn to control it, but it can take some time; we have to find out what helps calm you down and what triggers you to attack. Once we learn that we can start the process of controlling the change."

"Awesome, that would be so helpful, why couldn't I have learned that earlier," Isaac moaned, thinking back on his last month. "Oh, wait, I forgot this," Isaac called out, turning back to the wall of the cave. Derek watched as he picked up a long scarf and wrapped it around his neck before pulling the hood back over his head.

"Where did that come from?"

"I got it from this really nice lady in Goodsprings, her name was Melissa, she's the bartender there. One night she heard me crawling around out back and instead of chasing me off, she welcomed me. She gave me a little bit of spare food and let me sleep there for the night. She was the first person to ever be nice to me."

"And she gave you a scarf?"

"Yea, before I left, she told me to take it, so that way I'd think of her if I was ever in trouble. I wanted to stay, but I don't think the other townspeople really liked me," Isaac explained. "So I said good bye and left, haven't really stayed in one spot too long since the Scorpions leader tried to kill me."

The pair climbed out of the cave, Isaac blinking in the light; Derek remembered the sunglasses, pulling one pair out of his leather jacket to put on. Then he swung his pack around to search for the spare pair he kept, hoping that they hadn't gotten broken. As they reached the road, he finally pulled out the other pair, handing them over to the Beta.

"These help a lot, so now we can travel better during the day, I have a tendency to hoard these, because I can go through a lot. So keep your eyes peeled for some."

"Will do, thanks," Isaac promised, sighing in relief as the tinted glasses provided some protection to his sensitive eyes.

"Well, why don't we make our way to Goodsprings, I'd love to meet Melissa, if you don't mind going back."

"I'd love to see her again, and thank her properly. That sounds like a great place to start," Isaac agreed, tail wagging just a bit.

Derek gently clapped Isaac on his shoulder, he had no idea how far Goodsprings was, but they'd spend that time getting to know each other a little better. A Pack couldn't grow together if they didn't trust one another, and Derek could feel Isaac's fear, it was coming off him in waves. But Derek was patient; he would work with Isaac and encourage his inner wolf to become stronger.

* * *

A/N: Here it isssssss, my newest story, much thanks to my buddy DisputedJustice on tumblr, toooootally gave me the idea. Like I stated in the summary, this is based around the Fallout: New Vegas game, it's the one that I know the best. I'll be introducing A LOT of the TW characters, but I don't quite have a role for all of them, but I've done my best. I have soooo many ideas for the characters as they progress through the storyline. Please let me know what you think! I'm so excited for this story, it's going to be my most action packed story yet, and probably my darkest -hence the rating- Thanks for reading =D


	2. Waking Up In Goodsprings

*The next day*

Stiles groaned and opened his eyes, squinting at the bright light; he clumsily raised his arm to try and block out the light. He shifted, attempting to sit up, and shield his eyes at the same time, but a pair of hands quickly pressed down on his shoulders.

"Easy there kiddo, don't sit up quite yet. You've been out for awhile, your friend here has been worried sick about you," a disembodied voice said to him.

Stiles blinked a few more times, letting his eyes adjust to the light hanging over him; a shadow slowly came into focus. A brown-skinned man was standing over him, a concerned look on his face. Then, over the man's shoulder, another face appeared; this one made him smile.

"Hey Scott," he rasped, his throat dry.

The two of them helped him to slowly sit up, Stiles shaking his head as he tried to clear away the dizzy spell that hit him. But that only made it worse, his world spun and he tilted over on his side, Scott barely managing to keep him on the bed.

"Ow, holy crap, what's going on man?" he asked his buddy, desperately wishing he had some water.

"Well, first, let Dr. Alan finish checking you out," Scott replied.

"Hi, Dr. Alan Deaton, but most folks call me Doc. I just want to run a few final tests on you to make sure you're alright. You took quite the hit to the head you know." Deaton handed the boy a mirror, "Tell me, do you look like yourself?"

Stiles grimaced as he reached out the grasp the mirror, arms still giving him a sluggish response; he looked in the mirror, turning from side to side. He counted the moles on the side of his face, "Yea, looks like I'm all here."

"Good, good, I did my best to patch you up, although that nasty scar above your eye isn't going to go away any time soon."

Stiles sighed, looking into the mirror again. He supposed he should be thankful he was even alive, but as he looked at the angry red scar spread over his temple, fading out to a dark pink over his left eye, he just couldn't help but feel frustrated. "Well, consider that just one more reason for the ladies to run away from me."

"Oh come on dude, it definitely gives you a hint of danger. If you can get shot in the head and survive, you're doing really well," Scott said, attempting to cheer his best friend up.

Stiles just gave him a rueful smile, barely nodding his head; it gave him a real dangerous look alright, kinda on the psychotic side if he were to tell the truth. But at the end of the day, it was just one more scar to add to the collection, he had plenty of those. Sometimes he really envied Scott's healing abilities, that asshole didn't have a single scar. There were times when that healing ability had almost gotten them into trouble though; a noticeable lack of scars in the Wastes was a dead giveaway for some people.

"Do you feel up to standing? I'm hoping to give you a strength and reflex test, we have to make sure your brain is functioning alright." When Stiles nodded his head, Deaton continued, "Come this way then, this machine here will test everything out for you."

Scott came over so Stiles had someone to lean on, the pair carefully making their way over to the machine the doctor was leading them towards. He held onto the handle, barely registering what the machine wanted him to do, but it seems he passed because the Doc said he was doing just fine. Stiles was ready to get out of here, he had someone to go track down and kill; he moved towards what he thought was the door. But the doctor stepped in his way.

"Now, you can't leave just yet, I've got some other questions to ask you, come sit on the couch. Just a few questions and then you'll be free to go, I promise."

He just groaned but allowed Scott to lead him towards the couch; he was thankful to be sitting again though. Apparently Deaton wanted to run a word association test, although Stiles had no idea what that would prove. But he played along, calling out the first thing that came to mind to each of Deaton's words. Whatever the outcome was, Deaton was pleased and stood up, walking them to the door.

"Alright, here's all your stuff back, sorry if the clothes are bloody, I had a hard time trying to wash it all out. But it's better than being in your underwear right? And I've also got this 9mm handgun, Scott said it was yours; here's the ammo. And a few caps as well. I think that's everything, you boys be careful now, the Wastes are pretty dangerous."

"Thanks for patching me up Doc, although I have to ask, what exactly happened out there, why am I not dead?" Stiles asked, holstering his gun and putting the rest back into Scott's pack. He really needed to find his own pack, he felt bad making Scott carry everything.

"Well, I think Scott knows more than me, he was there after all. But the bullet entered your temple and roamed for a bit, honestly, I have no idea how you survived. Thankfully you passed all the tests so I didn't mess anything up when I dug the bullet out. The brain is a tricky organ, we don't know too much about it, so count your blessing and don't think about it too much."

"Well, that's good enough for me, as long as you say I'm good to go, I'm not going to question it," Stiles told him, turning to grab the door handle. "Oh, wait, where's my Sniper Rifle Doc? I can't leave without that."

"Uhh, about that Stiles," Scott said, looking up at the ceiling. "Peter stole it. Well, maybe one of the Khans did, I'm not sure."

"What?! God, that thing was expensive! Fucking Peter," Stiles yelled, slamming the door with the side of his fist.

"It's fine Stiles, we'll get you another one, don't worry about it. Come on, let's go find something to drink."

"Yea, yea, sure. While we're here, did you happen to see which way Peter went?"

"No, I was sound asleep until Scott and Victor knocked on my door. You can either ask him if he knows anything or look for Melissa. She's the bartender, so if there is any gossip going around about the man that shot you, she'd know. Be careful boys, maybe go talk with Sunny Smiles, she should be able to help you out, give you another gun or something," Deaton warned one last time as they opened the door.

"Thanks again Doc, I'll be sure to come back if I need any more patching up," Stiles repeated, waving to the kind man.

The boys shielded their eyes as they stepped outside, the afternoon sun shining brightly. From the porch they could make out the bar, so they decided to head there first. The pair made their way to the bar, Stiles was flexing his fingers, making sure he still had control of everything and Scott was looking around at the small town.

"Still can't believe Peter stole the rifle, what a dick!" Stiles murmured, kicking at a rock on the road.

"Well, he's also a dick for shooting you in the face and leaving you to die," Scott replied.

Stiles just scowled at his almost brother, pushing open the door for Scott to enter; they blinked to help their eyes adjust to the dark again. Before they even took a step, there was a large dog in front of them, barking; Stiles stepped forward, pushing Scott behind him.

"Cheyenne, stay," they heard a voice call out. "Sorry about that, she's wary of strangers, but she won't attack unless I tell her to. Sunny Smiles, nice to meet you."

"Uh, hey," Stiles started, taken back by her bright attitude. "Doc mentioned coming to talk to you, lucky us running into you so soon."

"Good ol' Doc, he's a miracle worker, even if he doesn't admit to it. What can I do you for boys?"

Scott spoke up then, still keeping his distance from the dog, "He said that you could help up, I'm assuming he meant with some kind of training, maybe have a spare gun lying around that we could use?"

"Sure, I can give you guys a few pointers, meet me around back of the saloon," she told them, waving her arm as she turned away.

Scott and Stiles looked at each other and shrugged, might as well see what she had to show them, it couldn't hurt. So they turned and followed her out back, silently cursing the sun once more. They watched as she set up some bottles along the low fence, wondering what she had in mind. After she had set up about 6 bottles, she came over the them and handed Stiles a Varmint Rifle and some spare rounds.

"See if you can't shoot some of them bottles off the fence," she offered, wanting to see how good of shots they were.

Stiles smirked as he took the gun, it wasn't his Sniper Rifle, but it would do. He crouched, knowing it would give him more stability and tucked the butt of the rifle into his shoulder. Stiles let out a slow calming breath as he peered down the sights, lining them up with the first bottle. After another breath, he pressed down on the trigger, smiling as he watched it explode. He quickly dispatched two more of the bottles, getting both on the first shot; he stood and offered Scott the rifle.

Scott shook his head, "No, no, no, you know I'm crap with a gun. I don't feel like wasting the ammo, you do well enough for the both of us."

"Very nicely done," Sunny praised.

Stiles shrugged, "Yea, I've spent a lot of hours with my Sniper Rifle, shooting bottles off a fence isn't too difficult."

Sunny gave him an appraising look, she liked a guy that knew how to shoot. "Well, if you want, you can come with me to kill off some Geckos. They keep getting into our water supply, I usually wipe them out every other day. It will be good practice, the Varmint Rifle handles different from the Sniper Rifle."

"That sounds like a good idea, practice is always a good idea, you game Scott?"

Scott nodded his head, he wanted to make sure that Stiles was really okay, something more than just a couple of bottles on a fence. He didn't really want to say anything and make Stiles worry, or try too hard and end up pushing himself too far. Stiles handed him the handgun, preferring that Scott had some sort of gun on him if they were going to hunting Geckos.

"Alright, lead the way," Stiles smiled.

Sunny took off, heading south, Cheyenne following behind her, then Scott and Stiles bringing up the rear. As they passed through the brush, Scott noticed that Cheyenne kept falling back, getting closer to him. Her hackles were raised, she clearly sensed his Werewolf genes, but she wasn't growling at him. Scott did his best to ignore her, not wanting to raise Sunny's suspicions, but luckily Cheyenne eventually seemed to accept his presence and ran back ahead to be with her owner.

"Okay, the first well is right around the corner here, there shouldn't be too many Geckos here, but let's try to sneak up on them," Sunny said, crouching down.

They three of them crept around the edge of the rock, Scott in the back with the pistol; he wasn't going to shoot unless he had too. Between Sunny and Stiles, he was fairly confident that he wasn't needed here. Scott watched as the pair set up their shots, lining up their sights with the Geckos. They shot at the same time, both Geckos dropping to the ground.

"Alright! That was easy, do you want to help me clear out the other 2 wells too? I should be able to scrounge up some caps for the trouble."

"Sounds good, we could always use some extra caps," Stiles replied, standing up and offering Sunny a hand.

They followed her further south, quickly coming up to the second well. Three large Geckos came charging at them, spotting them before they had time to hide. Stiles raised his rifle, taking steps backwards as he shot; he really didn't want to go back to Deaton so soon. He cried out a warning when Cheyenne jumped into the fray, unable to shoot with her so close. But she surprised him by tucking low to the ground and then springing up as the last Gecko lunged; launching herself right at its throat. Stiles kept the rifle up, incase Cheyenne got clear but she had the Gecko pinned and ripped out its throat in under a minute.

"Dear God, I thought I was going to shoot her," Stiles said, finally lowering the gun.

"I'm glad you didn't, she felt that Gecko got a little too close to me and stepped in. She's not used to there being a second shooter; we have a good understanding of each other," Sunny explained, patted her dog's head lovingly.

After a quick breather, they continued onto the final well; as the group got closer, Stiles and Scott heard someone calling out for help. They looked at each other for a moment, eyes wide, before they tore off, leaving Sunny behind. When the well came into view, they saw a woman surrounded by three Geckos. Scott raised the pistol, but was too afraid of hitting the woman to shoot, so instead he ran forward, trying to get the Geckos' attention. If he managed to pull the Geckos towards him, Stiles would be more comfortable shooting.

Stiles crouched, steadying his aim while Scott ran forward, he really needed to drag the Geckos away from the lady; he'd never forgive himself if he shot her on accident. He heard Scott let out a low growl, silently cheering for his friend as that successfully drew their attention away from her. He quickly fired off a few rounds, taking the first Gecko down.

Sunny skidded to a stop next to him, pulling up her own gun and firing, catching one of the remaining Geckos in the leg. When it stumbled, Scott pulled out the pistol and shot it in the head, while Stiles dispatched the final Gecko. Stiles sagged to the ground, relieved that the woman was okay. She ran over to them, wanting to thank the teens.

"Holey Moley, if you hadn't come when you did, I'd be a goner, thank you! Here, I don't have much, but take this water, you look thirsty," the woman said, handing both of them a couple bottles of purified water.

"Oh, you are a Godsend," Stiles moaned, opening up the bottle and drinking from it. He'd wanted water since he woke up.

"You alright Ann?" Sunny asked.

"Yes, thanks to these two young men, they must have heard me calling for help and ran right over."

"Good, be careful next time, these critters like to show up ever few days, so I wouldn't come here alone. It's always safer to travel in numbers."

The lady named Ann nodded her head, "I know, you tell us that all the time, but I didn't want to wait for Lou to get home. But I will next time, that's for sure."

She thanked the boys one last time before leaving, probably heading back home, where it was safe. The boys breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Sunny, seeing her shaking her head.

"I tell these guys all the time, it's not safe to head out on your own, not even to the wells; hopefully now they'll get it. That got rough, but I'm glad you two heard her calling out and rushed over here. She might not have made it otherwise. Here's the caps I promised you for helping out. I've only got one more thing to teach you, if you're interested, I know how to make some basic recipes, if you want to learn?"

Scott quickly tucked the 50 caps into the pack while Stiles nodded his head, "Yea, learning stuff like that is real helpful, what do we need to get?"

"I'll teach you how to make a healing powder, that seems to be the most useful, search around and see if you can find some Broc Flower and Xander Root, then meet me over there at the campfire," she said, pointing down the slope.

"Alright, cool, we'll be back soon!" Scott promised.

* * *

A/N: Alright, second installment is here! This time it's from Stiles/Scott's PoV. Tell me what you think so far! I think Stiles makes a good Courier, AND because this is a more adult fic, I can use all the cursing I want! Because we all know that a pair of Teens in the Wastelands aren't going to hold back XD It just seems to punctuate their stronger feelings. Up next is more than likely going to be a Derek/Isaac scene, I want to skip between the two regularly so one doesn't get further behind. Hope you enjoyed it!


	3. Isaac's Health

A/N: A guest mentioned that I should explain what the various creatures look like, and I realized that hey were right. I took for granted that the people reading this story would be completely familiar with the Fallout: New Vegas game and it's creatures, which isn't so. To fix this, at the end of this chapter, I'm going to include descriptions of the Geckos and the Night Stalkers, for past reference and in the future, I will be sure to give a description of the creature as they come upon it. Thank you Guest, for pointing that out to me, I was just so excited to write this story, I didn't think about the readers that are here for the TW and not necessarily the Fallout! The night stalkers are talked about again in this chapter, I've added partial descriptions, but a full description is at the bottom. I couldn't find a way to fit in a full description since they were already introduced AND dead... But I do describe the Radscorpions in this chapter.

* * *

*Meanwhile*

Derek was leaning against the cool side of the mountain, the pair hadn't traveled far at all; in fact they even returned to the same cave that night to sleep in. Turns out, Isaac was doing a lot worse that Derek realized. As soon as the day started to heat up, Isaac started lagging behind, his legs were unable to hold him up. So Derek ended up carrying the young Beta back to the crescent shaped cave. Isaac curled up on himself, trying to calm his body; he kept whimpering, his body felt like it was on fire, consuming itself from within.

The fire roared to life, Derek quickly cutting up another of the night stalkers to cook up; Isaac needed food. He tossed away the scaled head and tail, they didn't contain enough meat; instead he cut into the lean furry body, going for the legs first. Isaac's body was trying to find energy to replace the lost cells with, but he was so malnourished it was feeding on his muscles instead. It turned into a viscous cycle and Derek needed to fix it. He could tell that Isaac had no idea what was happening to him, he had no experience with this stuff; the only reason Derek knew was because his mother had insisted that he learn everything about Werewolf anatomy and physiology. Thank God for that right now!

He cursed the meat for taking so long, as soon as the edges were dark enough, he pulled it off the stick and ran over to Isaac. Derek carefully pried his claws away from his face, the Beta's muscles were completely locked up.

"Come on Isaac, I need you to eat this, right now, it will help. Fight against the stiffness, come on kiddo," Derek said as he pried his jaws open.

As soon as the meat hit his tongue, Isaac started to tear into the meat, eyes shining brightly at the nourishment. Derek flew back to the fire and started cooking more, cutting them into thinner pieces so they'd cook faster. His heart rate finally started to slow down as Isaac ate three more thin pieces and wasn't whining as deeply. He could see his muscles loosening up, Isaac was slowly uncurling, trying to avoid stressing his muscles as he went.

"How are you feeling now Isaac? Has the burning stopped?" Derek asked, face full of concern.

Isaac just nodded his head, mouth still full, but Derek could hear his heartbeat slowing down to an almost normal cadence. The Alpha motioned for him to get closer to the fire, the heat would help get rid of the shivering. Once he was assured that the worst was over, Derek pulled a bottle of Nuka Cola out of his bag and handed it over, knowing the sugar was the best thing.

"What happened?" Isaac asked after he took a few sips, eyes still amber.

Derek sat down on the cold floor, unsure of how to really explain it to someone that had so little knowledge. "Well, for starters, you're extremely malnourished, I noticed it this morning when you were getting dressed. You have a lot of bruises that haven't healed, and then the night stalker bites compounded on top of that. As I'm sure you're aware that Werewolves are known for their healing capabilities, but in order for our bodies to do that, we have to consume fuel, I.E. food.

"In a typical situation it's never a problem for us, and the more extensive the damage, the slower we heal, to conserve our fuel. So we'll protect ourselves from immediate danger and death and then slow down if the injured area was over a large percentage of our bodies. With me so far?"

"Yea, I think so. You're basically saying that because my life sucked and I hardly got enough food as a human, my wolf also didn't have enough food to heal me. But shouldn't that mean my body just decides not to heal itself?"

Derek nodded his head, "Usually you'd be correct, hence why your bruises weren't fading away, they weren't very serious. And the night stalker bites healed enough to stop the bleeding. And normally you would have continued to be alright, if it were regular coyote bites, but the night stalkers have venom."

Isaac eyes widened, "Shit, I didn't know that, I didn't even think about the rattles on their tails. Fuck."

"Yea, so the food we ate last night helped, but it wasn't enough to flush all the venom out, and as a delayed effect, when you went out in the sun, your body shut down. And that burning sensation you felt? It was your body beginning to break down your muscles to try and use as a fuel source, which led to your body trying to heal that damage. I'm sure you can see how much of a problem this is."

Isaac nodded his head slowly, eyes wide in fear, "What now? I can still feel my body trying to stitch itself together. I don't want the cycle to start again."

"It won't be as bad, by now the venom is out of your system, which was the priority. So all that's left is to heal the rest of your body that got torn apart, so we'll be relaxing here the rest of the day at least, we might start a slow trek at night, real slow pace though. Drink your Cola, the sugar will help," Derek reminded him.

After a few moments of silence, Isaac turned to his Alpha, "Thank you Derek, for taking care of me. You didn't have to but you did."

Derek's eyes shot up to meet Isaac's, was that how he really felt? He thought Derek was going to abandon him, at the first sign of a problem. He tried not to scowl, knowing that Isaac would take it the wrong way; this was definitely new to him.

"You've bonded your wolf to mine, we're Pack, and Pack doesn't abandon each other when lives are at stake. I'm your Alpha now, that means you are my responsibility, good and bad; the fact that you decided to trust me, and follow me, means more than you could ever know. You can trust me with your life Isaac, because I'll protect you before I protect myself."

As Isaac listened to Derek's speech, unbidden tears sprang from his eyes; no one had ever cared about his life before. Not even himself if he were to be honest; he hastily wiped at his eyes, what a great time to look like a fool.

Derek gave him a small smile, realizing that the teen was touched by his words, and no doubt he was starting to feel the bond between them grow, even if he didn't know how to recognize it just yet.

"I'm going to go dump these small night stalkers outside and get us something else to eat, scorpions are actually really good as fuel food. If I can manage to find one; stay here and rest. Do you want another Cola to help?"

Isaac thought for a moment before shaking his head, he was feeling pretty calm and he didn't want to do anything to make it worse while Derek was gone. Derek shrugged and pulled one out anyways, telling him to go ahead and drink it if the burning sensation returned. He continued to stretch out his muscles bit by bit as Derek took all the carcasses out of the cave.

It wasn't long before Isaac got bored, just sitting there in the cave with nothing to do, so he wandered closer to the opening, seeking some light. He watched as the slight wind blew tumbleweeds around the ground outside, knowing what they felt like to forever be wandering. It wasn't long before he could feel his stomach started to gurgle again so he popped open the soda and took a few sips. Then an idea hit him, and he pulled off the hoodie and his shirt, looking at his arms and watching the small bites heal, leaving just the faintest of scabs. Then he watched as his bruises slowly lighten from a deep burgundy to a fair purple/blue color. Isaac couldn't help but feel fascinated, he had never seen his body heal like this before, he was usually too worried with just finding safety than healing. Maybe with Derek to show him the ropes, being a Were wouldn't be that bad after all.

Derek pulled the coyote hybrids away from the cave, not wanting any other creatures to follow the scent back and give Isaac trouble. He left the bodies out in the open and backtracked, climbing up on some large boulders about 20 meters away. From there he looked all around, hoping the find some radscorpions, the larger the better. Of course, he didn't see any in the vicinity which made him growl in frustration; Derek jumped off the rocks and started to wander the flat land in search of his prey. He spent a good 30 minutes searching, just about ready to give up since he didn't want to be away from Isaac for too long. Knowing him, the poor kid would probably start to think that Derek left him behind. Turning back the way he came, Derek hurried back at an easy jog, only stopping as he neared the dead stalkers he had left behind. A giant radscorpion was feeding on the stalkers, it was a good 6 feet long and its stinger was raised maybe 5 feet in the air. The Alpha crept towards the monster, wanting to get as close as possible while undetected; he really didn't want to get caught in those massive front claws (there were at LEAST a foot thick!).

When he was just a few feet away when he launched himself at the monster's tail, unsheathing his claws in one smooth motion; as he landed on its tail, holding on tight with his legs while he used his claws to pierce the base of the stinger, slicing it off and tossing it away. Now that the biggest threat was gone, Derek jumped onto its back, trying to stand steady as the radscorpion jerked around in pain. He knelt down on its back, lowering his center of gravity to maintain balance; as the monster continued to buck around, he slammed his claws into its head, effectively blinding the creature. The scorpion lashed out with its pinchers, which Derek easily avoided before digging his claws further into the soft body, finding the brain and destroying it. The scorpion fell to the ground, legs going limp underneath it, but Derek waiting a few moments before jumping to the ground, just in case. Now that he had a radscorpion, he needed to return to Isaac, this would go a long way for his healing.

Isaac watched as the sun continued to float across the sky, starting to worry if maybe Derek was in trouble. He had seen a radscorpion before and it looked very dangerous, what if Derek ran into a group of them? The Beta had finished the soda while he'd been waiting and he was feeling the sugar start to wear off; he wanted to fidget but his muscles were still protesting too much movement.

Just then he saw a dark figure out in the desert, slowly coming closer to the cave; he watched it, hoping it was Derek and not someone else. As the wind shifted, he sniffed, finally catching Derek's scent, as well as the smell of another creature. He stood up and moved to stand right at the cave entrance, so that way Derek will know he's okay. When Derek came closer, Isaac's jaw dropped as he realized the size of the scorpion Derek was dragging behind him; he'd never seen one that big before. Isaac quickly stepped aside so Derek could drag it into the cave, and he continued to stare at the Alpha, how had he killed it? And how did he manage to make it look so light? There was no way Isaac could have move something that heavy.

"Where did you find that thing?"

"Out in the desert, I had a hell of a time really, there weren't any to be found, that's what took so long. So I wandered around for awhile and just when I had given up and turned back, I saw this beast feeding off the night stalker carcasses. It was great for me, that meant I was able to sneak up on it. Ready to eat?"

"Oh yea, definitely; I finished off the other Cola, and I've healed a lot, look," Isaac answered, lifting up his shirt to show Derek his bruises. "My muscles are still really sore though and weak, but no burning so it's okay."

Derek nodded his head, happy that the Beta was doing much better, he shouldn't have pushed him to leave this morning. He really should have known he wasn't ready, especially after he saw all those bruises when he got dressed this morning. After setting down the scorpion's tail, he pulled a machete out from his pack, there was no way he'd manage to split this up without making a mess. Isaac sat back and watched as Derek sliced up the giant meal, throwing it over the fire, shell and all.

"The shell is tough, but it's good for you, well it's good for us, I'm not sure about Humans. And they are a great source of protein so after a few pieces you should be fully healed, and we'll have enough left over to snack on while we travel. It's always a good idea to keep some bug meat on you if you ever find any, great for health in a pinch," Derek easily explained to his Beta as they watch the meat cook.

When it was all done, Isaac took a tentative bite, not really feeling the bugs for dinner thing, but it turned out to be pretty good. The shell was a bit tough, but with his sharp teeth he was able to tear it apart quick enough. After just a few bites he could feel warmth flowing through his body, something he had come to recognize as his body healing. This warmth was welcomed, unlike the very painful burning sensation from earlier.

"You were right, well, not that I doubted you but I feel so much better already. You're a great Alpha, I'm sure some people wouldn't have given me a second glance. Hell, some Alphas might have even tried to kill a weakling like me, but you decided not to for some reason."

Derek looked up at the Beta, thinking back on when they first met last night, "I couldn't kill you, it would have been a pointless death. There has been enough of that in my life, I don't take innocent lives if I can help it. I realized that you must have been abandoned by your Alpha, and for some reason that just struck a chord in me. Honestly I surprised myself, I didn't figure I'd be taking in any companions, or even build a pack here. At least not so soon, but when I saw you, I just couldn't leave you here on your own. I'm glad you decided to join me though."

Isaac smiled at Derek, "Why would I say no? I don't have a death wish, I know that I'd be so much better off with you. Hell, you couldn't be any worse than my dad or the Scorpion Gang, I had nothing to lose."

The pair finished eating in silence, each lost in thought about their pasts. Derek sat on the floor, looking at Isaac; he decided that they'd travel after the sun was setting, it would be better on Isaac's body that way. He really wanted to get away from the Outpost up the hill, so the sooner they moved on the better. Isaac agreed readily when Derek told him the plan, he was eager to move on as well, and traveling at night seemed like a good idea. Derek made him promise to mention if he started feeling weak at all and they'd find somewhere to stop for the night, but Isaac insisted he was feeling a lot better. So they sat around and relaxed for the rest of the day, waiting for the evening to come.

* * *

A/N: Geckos: Large reptiles, approx. 5 ft tall, the general Gecko is a purple color with orange eyes and a pair of fins along the back of their heads. They live in packs and will immediately run at you, mouth open upon seeing the character. Very sharp teeth and claws, love to jump at the character and bite. There are other variations which will be described as they are found in the story.

Night Stalkers: a science experiment, they are literally a combination of coyotes and rattlesnakes that were spliced together in a lab. They are of average coyote height, but have a reptilian heads, flat like a snake's. They also have a snake like tail with a rattle on the end, which alert you to their presence. Usually found with a few adult stalkers and a few young stalkers that are slightly smaller in size. They have a forked tongue and have venom just like the rattlesnake, so they are dangerous.

Radscorpions: Large irradiated scorpions, the smallest scorpions are described as about the size o a bighorner calf, and those are the little ones! The giant ones can be like 5 times the size of the small ones and are a huge problem due to their hard exoskeleton which protects them from most attacks. The stinger alone is about the size of a person's head, so it's best to avoid them =P

I'm thinking for future reference, I'll always include a detailed description of the creatures at the bottom of the chapter, which give all the details for a fuller picture. For me, it's hard to include ALL of the details in one setting while still keeping the story going smoothly. So if you prefer, you can always come check the bottom of the chapter for the new creature description and then read through with that in mind. Hope this helps!


	4. Ingredients and Practice

A/N: Would just like to take the time to thank lord kiras hand for helping me brainstorm some ideas and character placement. They read my first chapter and immediately came to me with some ideas. I can't wait to implement them in later chapters! Hope everyone is continuing to enjoy this story!

* * *

*Back in Goodsprings*

The pair headed back towards town, keeping their eyes peeled for the ingredients; but they realized the town had a lot of nooks and crannies that the items could be. They walked slowly, not wanting to accidently walk by one; as they got closer to the Saloon, they realized it would probably be easier to ask someone where they could find their two ingredients. Stiles looked around, but there weren't many people wandering around outside. They decided to head to the General Store and see if the Owner had any in stock. As they walked by, they saw an older man sitting on the porch of the Saloon and figured they'd start there if they had no luck next door.

Stiles's heart sank as they entered the small store, there wasn't much on the shelves, but it couldn't hurt to ask anyways. Scott looked through everything, just in case there was something there for them to pick up while Stiles just went up to the register to ask.

"Can I help you Sir?"

"I was hoping you'd have some Broc flower and/or Xander Root?" Stiles asked, hopeful lilt to his voice.

The owner's face fell, "No, I don't go out if I don't need to, so what I get is things people sell me to resell to others. Sorry I don't have any of that, but maybe there is something else here that you'd like to buy?"

Stiles started to shake his head but then Scott came up, holding a shovel, "This please."

He got a weird look from Stiles but easy handed over the caps and propped the shovel against his shoulder. He thanked the owner and they left the store, heading over to the Saloon to talk with the man sitting out front.

"Hey there, could you tell us where we could find some Xander Root, or Broc Flower? Sunny asked us to pick some up," Scott asked, using his puppy dog eyes.

"I'm not sure about the Broc Flower, but you can find the Xander Root over by the old school. But be careful, there are some critters over there you'll want to watch out for. But inside is that darn safe that I've been trying to crack open. Maybe you boys will be able to open it. Name's Easy Pete by the way, nice to meetcha."

"Thanks a lot Easy Pete, we'll see you around."

After they walked away, Stiles nudged his friend, "What's with the shovel dude?"

"Well, if we're going out hunting Xander Root, do you want to have to dig it up by hand? I sure don't, hence, the shovel."

Stiles groaned, it didn't seem totally necessary, but it hadn't been too expensive and he supposed it would make things a little easier, so he dropped the subject. The boys quickly ran over to the old school, finding a few Mantises roaming the yard; Stiles made a face, he didn't really like the insect creatures. They hopped around all the time and traveled in groups, making them hard to deal with, even if these ones were only about a foot tall. As they came closer, one of the Nymphs saw them and spread its wings, alerting the others to the threat. Two other green monsters joined up with the first one and they all jumped, reaching out with their sharp forelegs. Stiles took a few steps back to give himself time to aim, and then with a few well placed shots, he dispatched them and the boys searched the yard for the Root. It wasn't long before they found some by an old tree stump, Scott picking it and placing it in the pack.

Stiles glanced at the old building, "You want to take a look inside? Might have some good stuff in there that Pete missed, don't you think?"

Scott shrugged, "Worth a shot, let's go."

So the boys entered the abandoned building, Mantises congregated on them as soon as the door closed.

"Shit, there's even more in here!" Stiles yelled, pulling out the pistol.

He shot a few, and the others made the mistake of jumping on Scott, who easily smashed them in his hands before healing from the minor cuts.

Scott turned to smile at his companion, "See, who needs a gun? Not me."

"Ha, well Skinny Snark-pants does so Mr. Wolf-Powers needs to shut his fluffy butt," Stiles sneered good-naturedly.

The boys scoured the room, easily finding small stashes of caps and even some spare ammo and a couple of magazines; then they found the safe that Easy Pete must have been talking about. Scott crouched down and pulled out a bobby pin, getting ready to pick it.

"Whoa, wait a second, there's a computer here, guy," Stiles chided. "It probably opens the safe, and we don't have to break any bobby pins. Use your head bro."

"Yea, like the computer won't have a code on it or anything."

Stiles held his hand up to his chest, a hurt look on his face, "You doubt my abilities?"

Scott just gave him a look, and leaned against the safe as Stiles cracked his knuckles and powered on the monitor. Of course the computer was locked but he scanned through the database and within a few tries, guessed the right password. He smiled smugly at Scott, as he unlocked the safe and powered down the monitor.

"Cake and pie Scott, cake and pie."

"Yea, yea, show off!" Scott teased and he popped the door open.

They both appraised the loot they found, a Stealth Boy, that was going to come in handy later! They also found some caps and some water, which was always useful. They gathered everything up and looked around one last time, satisfied that they had found everything; they left the school and started heading back towards the center of town.

Up ahead Stiles saw a robot rolling down the road, which was weird, you don't normally see robots out this far from the Strip. He nudged Scott, silently inquiring if he might know what was up with the bot.

Scott whispered, "That's Victor, he's the robot that helped out. He's… different though, and he has a cowboy face on his screen. He didn't really stick around for me to get a read on him, so I don't know what to tell ya."

Stiles nodded his head, wondering what Scott meant, but he strode across the road and waved the robot down. "Hey, my friend here says you're the one that really saved my bacon! Just wanted to say thanks for helping me out last night Victor," Stiles said to the robot.

"Glad to see you're looking fit as a fiddle. Happy to help out," the robot replied with a slight western accent.

"I was hoping you could tell me about the guys that shot me, maybe you knew them, or saw where they went?"

"Naw, can't say that I knew them, but maybe some of the townsfolk do, can't hurt to ask them. Didn't see which why they went, I was too busy checking on you boys. Sorry I can't be of more help," Victor replied.

"That's fine, I'm sure someone here has to know something. Oh, one other thing, would you happen to know where any Broc Flowers are? We need some."

"Oh, as a matter of fact, there are some up at the graveyard, I remember spotted some when I helped you boys out. Hope that helps," Victor answered.

"Thanks a ton, and thanks again for your help saving me," Stiles said one last time.

Stiles and Scott watched as the robot turned and wheeled away, not sure what to make of him.

Scott turned to Stiles and mumbled, "Told you he was a weird one."

"Yea, and he wasn't much help with Peter, but at least we know where some Broc Flower is! Let's go, we can keep asking around about Peter once we finish up with Sunny."

They practically ran up to the graveyard, wanting to hurry up and get back to hunting Peter down. They noticed the dried blood on the dirt and the many scuffed footprints, the only markings left from the incident last night. They poked around, Stiles staying away from the center of the graveyard; he kicked some of the dry brush that was gathered around the older graves. Unconsciously, Stiles reached up to feel his fresh scar, once again amazed at the fact he had lived through the confrontation at all. As they continued to look around, Scott finally called out that he found one, holding the flower up victoriously. Stiles smiled at his brother as he walked over to join him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. They paused a moment, not quite ready to head back to Sunny, so Stiles decided to sit down next to one of the graves. He grabbed up one of the trinkets that had been left as a memento, spinning it around in his hands; after a few breaths, Stiles decided to broach the subject, "Hey Scott, after I got shot, what happened? How did you get us out of there?"

*On the Road*

As the sun set, the wolves set out once again, Derek trying not to check up on Isaac every few minutes. After he had eaten, they cooked up the rest of the Radscorpion and wrapped it up in some old newspapers; it was sitting on the top of Derek's pack, which was becoming pretty full. He made a mental note to buy some kind of bag for Isaac to keep food for himself; since he was a teenager, his body had an even faster metabolism than Derek, and it was going to be important that they had access to food. As they followed the road, they came across an old underpass swarmed with Ants. Isaac heard them scuttling around, and he subconsciously maneuvered behind Derek, seeking protection.

"It's alright, Ants aren't usually dangerous, not to us. From the sound of it, there aren't any Soldier Ants, those are the ones you want to watch out for. Let's climb up the side here and take a look, I can teach you a few things," Derek suggesting, directing Isaac to the incline.

They scrambled up, managing to stay quiet so the Ants didn't notice them; Isaac had never seen them before so he was glad they hadn't blindly stumbled across them.

"Okay see, they are small, well small considering the size of the Soldier Ants, nothing too special about them really, as long as you stay away from the mandibles," Derek started, pointing down at the creatures.

They were about three feet long, with proportional mandibles coming off their faces, they'd tear through leather and skin rather easily if you let them. Isaac didn't fancy running into a troop of these, he felt like they could easily overwhelm someone.

Derek continued, "They are best to take out with a gun, or long range weapon, just so they can't get a hold of you. But if you do get close, or manage to sneak up on them, your claw will easily pierce their armor. Their carapace is much thinner than those of the Radscorpions, so really, they aren't a threat. I've got a 12.7mm handgun in the pack, just in case we run into a Soldier, but I think this will be a good opportunity for you."

"What? What does that mean? You want me to kill the ants?" Isaac sputtered, eyes wide.

"Yes, you need practice, and confidence if I'm being honest. These are easy targets as long as you don't panic Isaac. Trust me, you can do this."

Isaac moaned and closed his eyes, trying to find some sort of strength in his bones for this. But Derek was nudging him, wanting his attention once more.

"This first one, right down here, you can easily jump on, and if you focus your weight, you'll be able to land on it heavier than usual. It's a hard technique to explain but easy to master. Basically just tense up your body and imagine throwing your full weight down on your opponent, not just falling through the air. Take your time and line up your jump, then the second Worker will be coming at you.

"They aren't really fast, or particularly smart, so as it gets close to you, you'll be able to dodge it, either by rolling or jumping, whichever you prefer. Your body doesn't have any limits like before, just trust your instincts. Once you dodge, it will take the Ant a moment to recover and track you, take that time to attack. Any of their joints are weak spots, their armor is the thinnest there," Derek explained, looking at Isaac.

"Okay… and if it looks like I can't do this, will you help me out?" Isaac asked, his voice cracking.

Derek could feel his hesitance, Isaac had no self-confidence; if he panicked down there, he could get seriously hurt. He sat up, pulled Isaac with him, one hand on either of his shoulders.

"Isaac, you are a Werewolf now, there aren't many things that can seriously hurt you. Trust your body, trust your wolf, he'll help guide you. But you have to be willing to listen and let him take control. You will be fine, just remember what I said, even if they do grab you, you'll be fast enough to dislodge their heads before you'll lose a limb."

"But, what if I run into more than three someday? They may be small, but if they work together, they can be scary, I've heard a lot of stories about them," Isaac whispered, not wanting to alert the creatures to their presence.

Derek shook his head, "You can't think about things like that, are there more than three Ants down there? No, so don't waste your energy on thinking up scenarios that are worse that what you're actually up against. You have a few advantages already: 1 you are aware of their presence, 2 they are completely unaware of you, 3 you know their weak points, 4 they are spread out so they won't be able to swarm you, so you'll be fighting one-on-one, and 5 I will step in. Remember, I'm your Alpha, I'm responsible for you."

Upon hearing the words, Isaac relaxed; it felt good to just hear that Derek had his back, even if nothing was supposed to go wrong.

"And remember, I have faith in you, I won't push you to do something that you aren't prepared for. If these were Soldiers, or Radscorpions, or even 5 or more swarming Ants, I wouldn't let you do it alone. If some unforeseen catastrophe happens, I'll get you out of there, this is just for training, not a life or death situation," Derek added on.

"Thanks, that helped. I've never really had anyone to stand up and protect me before, it's weird. Dad would have just thrown me in the middle and probably wish I would die. But I think I'm ready, just trust my wolf and I'll be okay," Isaac repeated, taking a few deep breaths.

Derek clapped him on the shoulder, watching as he took a steadying breath, crouching at the edge of the incline. He stood there, watching the Ant below him skitter around between the trashed cars; he couldn't miss, this was his moment to prove to himself he was worth something. Closing his eyes, Isaac focused on Derek's words, he visualized himself forcing his weight down and he felt his muscles tense and expand. Then he opened his eyes and noticed that everything was brighter, his wolf had focused his vision, allowing him to pick up even more in the fading light.

With one last breath, he launched his body off the edge, lining up with the Ant below him. When he made contact with the large insect, he let out a satisfying snarl, the body crushed beneath his feet. Immediately he swung around, anticipating the next Worker that was coming his way, crouching low in preparation to jump. The Ant reared its head, preparing to clamp down on its quarry when he leapt into the air, over the Ant's head. As he was in the air, Isaac felt himself twisting, somersaulting; when he landed, his legs were on either side of Ant's thorax and his claws dug into the soft spot right behind its head. It crumpled to the ground, completely disabled, legs twitching feebly.

Knowing he only had one opponent left, he turned to face it, teeth bared, and claws at the ready. The Worker charged at him and Isaac, finally knowing what it meant to trust his wolf, surged forward and grabbed its mandibles. He felt the raw power surging through him, and he twisted his arms, flipping the creature onto its side, legs kicking in the air; then he growled as he ripped the jaws apart, insect blood flowing out from its face. He dropped the now useless jaws on the ground, taking one finally look at the Ant as it lie on the ground, motionless. Isaac tenses as he felt another presence coming closer to him, but then his wolf calmed and he realized it was just Derek. When he turned around, he saw a proud look on Derek's face and the sight made his throat tighten suddenly.

"You did good Isaac, I knew you could do it," Derek praised.

Isaac just ran up to him and threw his arms around his Alpha, grateful that Derek cared about him. He was 17 years old and this was the first time in his life he'd been praised. Derek was taken by surprise but he returned the hug, forgetting what it was like to have someone to protect.

* * *

A/N: Mantis: look like regular praying mantises, only huge! the small ones (nymphs) that Stiles/Scott ran into were only about 1-2 feet tall. They aren't overly dangerous if you see them before they see you, although the larger ones aren't something to take lightly. They often jump at their prey, lashing out with their sharp forearms, as well as attack in groups. The adult mantises can be as tall as a person, quite the force to reckon with, especially when they flock together.

Ants: the regular worker ants and soldier ants are basically just large forms of regular ants. They weren't mutated (other than size obviously) due to the exposure to radiation after the war. The soldier ants as about twice as tall as the worker ants (maybe two/three feet tall) and have huge mandibles. Definitely not something you want to fight up close and personal, but at least they aren't venomous right?


	5. Trouble in Goodsprings

*Goodsprings, The Night Before*

Scott and Stiles were standing there, wrists bound in front of them as Peter rambled on and on, the two Khans with him clearly didn't understand his way of doing things. Scott kept trying to break the chains wrapped around his wrists.

"Don't bother Scott, the reason you got chains and Stiles here didn't is because I know your little secret," Peter cut in, noticing his movements.

Scott's eyes flew upward, wondering how Peter could possibly know about him being a Werewolf. He had learned how to keep his wolf phases under control, they couldn't afford the trouble of anyone finding out.

Peter grinned evilly, "Did you think you could keep that secret from me, your own Father as it were."

"You are not my Dad, I know who my Dad was you asshole."

"Now, now, calm down, I simply meant that I'm the one that gave you The Bite, I'm the one that welcomed you into the glorious world of Weres. Aren't you excited about the gift I gave you? I've been waiting for a thank you for years now."

Scott's eyes bulged out of his head, "You? You're the one that bit me when I was a kid? Why? Do you have any idea what havoc you caused in my life?!"

"Oh don't take that tone with me Beta, or should I call you Omega? It's not like you have a Pack or anything right?"

Scott strained against the cold metal, wanting to rip Peter's throat out, "Let us go asshole! I'm going to kill you!"

"It was you? All those years ago? Why the hell did you bite Scott?" Stiles asked, completely dumbfounded by this revelation, forgetting the immediate danger his life was in.

"Because he had a lot of potential, I knew the Bite was going to take. I was hoping that he'd be intrigued by the gift I gave him and come looking for me. I was disappointed when he didn't, although he wasn't the only one I gave The Bite to. Some of the kids that came looking for me were such a letdown; I had to get rid of them, such a shame.

"Now Scott here, he still has potential, I never would have thought that a lonely Omega would be able to train himself to keep his inner wolf hidden away. I think the only thing holding him back is you, a filthy Human that thinks he can be friends with a Were. That ends tonight though," Peter said, raising his gun.

"Don't you dare!" Scott bellowed, eyes suddenly shining in the darkness. "He's the one that trained me, help me to understand this so-called 'gift,' he didn't abandon me when the rest of my friends did, when I became a freak! He's like a brother to me, you don't get to ridicule him; you don't have the right!"

Peter's eyes turned red, a snarl forming on his face, "You don't get to backtalk me Scott, I MADE you! You are MINE, I'll make you stronger, take you out of this menial existence. You'll finally flourish, unlike with this Human. Right now you're an Omega, you're nothing, weak! Be my Beta and gain power."

"No," Scott snarled.

At his defiance, Peter growled, stepping towards Scott, trying to threaten him into submission, but Scott stood strong and proud, snarling back at the Alpha.

Peter cut off his growling, appraising the younger Were, "You need to be taught a lesson Scott, it's rude to go up against your Alpha like that-"

"You are NOT my Alpha, nor will you EVER be," Scott cursed, taking a step towards the dangerous wolf.

Stiles was rooted to the spot, there was so much going on, Peter had been expecting Scott to go crawling to him all these years? He hadn't counted on Stiles, and that was a big mistake on his part. Peter had greatly underestimated the bond that he and Scott shared; Scott would never abandon him.

But Peter was done playing Scott's game, he didn't have time for an uncooperative teenager, he just needed a quick attitude adjustment. He leveled the gun at the Human's head and pulled the trigger, grinning wildly as he watched the blood splatter.

Stiles felt the world slow down: he watched as Peter leveled his pistol, and then as Scott realized what was happening, and he tried to sidestep but was way too slow. All Stiles managed to was flinch away from the shot he knew was coming, eyes squeezed shut. Then everything went quiet.

Scott screamed out in pain as he watched Stiles's head snap back and he collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap. With a sudden surge of anger, Scott cracked the chains that bound his wrist, dropping them on the ground. When he turned back to Peter, the Alpha was standing right behind him and whipped Scott with the butt of his pistol, causing Scott's vision to blacken around the edges.

"Let's get out of here, I got my chip, that's all I needed," Peter called out, signaling for the 2 Khans to follow him.

Scott tried to go after Peter but his body wasn't cooperating, the savage blow to his head was making his responses slow. He tumbled to the ground, visions blurring and coming back into focus over and over, and his legs gave out on him every time he tried to stand up. Tears where streaming down face, both from anguish and frustration; he gave up trying to stand, knowing that Peter would be way too far ahead for him to catch now. So he crawled back towards his brother, yelling out his name. As he came closer to Stiles, he thought he heard a heartbeat, but his own was thumping in his ears that he couldn't be sure. Scott cradled Stiles in his lap, bending over him, wishing Stiles would wake up and wrap his arms around him.

His mourning was interrupted by a low whirring noise, startling him out of his thoughts. Looking around, he saw a robot coming towards them, his face screen a beacon in the night.

"What's going on here Stranger?" the robot asked.

"Help please, my brother, he's been shot, you have to help me!" Scott begged, unable to bring himself to look down at Stiles's pale face.

"Does he still have a heartbeat? We've got to get him to Dr. Deaton right away," the robot assessed, coming closer.

Scott wrapped his fingers around his friend's wrist, sensitive fingers picking up the faint heartbeat he felt. Scott sobbed out in relief, "Yea, he has a pulse, can you help me carry him, I don't feel quite up to it yet?"

"Not a problem, let's get going," he responded, hunching over and hoisting Stiles up with his mechanical arms.

Scott clambered to his feet and stumbled after the robot, head clearing just a bit; his heart was racing again, Stiles still had a chance! Now that Scott was moving, his head was becoming a lot clearer; if this Dr. Deaton was a miracle worker, then Stiles could come back to him. They moved through the dark town, Scott not even noting his surroundings, until they started up a small hill. Victor called out for the doctor, leaving Scott knock on the door frantically.

"What's going on? Is Bethany having her baby already? A voice called out to them.

They heard some shuffling, then a light turned on, and the door opened; a man looked at the group with an alarmed expression on his face.

"Help," Scott whispered, suddenly afraid to talk.

The man took in scene, quickly assessing the damage; he pulled open the door and ushered the robot in, "Over here, set him down on the table, nice and easy. What happened?"

The doctor wasted no time, washing his hands and gathering all of his equipment while Scott explained the last few minutes. All he did was nod his head and then he asked for privacy, pulling a small partition around the surgery table.

Scott slid to the floor, praying to whoever would listen for Stiles to be okay. He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice the robot hovering over him until his wheel came directly into his line of sight. Glancing up, he noticed that the robot had a cowboy face, which explained his accent.

"Howdy, my name's Victor by the way, nice to meet you."

"Scott, and in there is Stiles. Thanks for helping us, he'd probably be dead if it wasn't for you. I'm not sure how I could ever thank you Victor," Scott replied.

Victor waved his arm, "Think nothing of it, I'm happy to help those in need. But I best be going now, just wanted to introduce myself before I left. Your friend is in good hands."

And just like that Victor rolled out of the house, somehow managing to close the door behind him. Scott stayed on the floor, too worried to move; he could feel the stress sapping his muscles of strength.

*Graveyard, Present*

Stiles sat there, ignoring the tears running down his face as Scott finished recounting the night's events. Peter hadn't given his death a single thought, he just saw him as an annoying Human that had interfered with his project. Just like that he was ready to kill, if he deemed his target useless or in his way. Stiles was glad that he decided to leave Scott alive, clearly he saw Scott's potential and didn't want to kill him off yet. But Stiles didn't really understand Peter's thought process, he definitely wasn't going to win Scott's allegiance by killing his best friend right in front of him (as far as Peter knew, he was dead). He looked down at his hands, realizing he'd been twirling an old snow globe in his hands.

"Thanks for saving me Scotty, I know it would have been easy to just assume I was dead and leave me there."

"I-I couldn't leave you there man. I mean, my first thought was ripping Peter's throat out, but I realized I couldn't catch him. When I felt your pulse I just felt this sensation in my chest, I couldn't believe it really, I had so much hope that I thought my heart would give out. Maybe hope isn't the right word, I had this need for you to live, if you were to die and leave me all alone, I don't think I could have gone on any more. Peter was wrong, you are my Pack Stiles, we're in this together, we always have been."

Stiles finally reached up to wipe his eyes, knowing that Scott would never tease him for crying, especially not when they almost lost each other. He grabbed Scott and pulled him into a hug, almost afraid to let go, but Scott held him just as fiercely. After a long moment, they pulled away and got to their feet, Scott noticing the object in Stiles's hands.

"You going to steal that?" he asked, nudging his friend.

Stiles gave the globe a closer look, noticing Vault-Boy standing in the foreground with a pickaxe and a barn-like building behind him, along with a windmill, along the base it had the name of the town, Goodsprings.

"You know, I think I want to take this with us, you know, to commemorate the town I almost died in! Sorry ghosty, but I'm going to have to take this, I hope you understand," Stiles said, turning back to the grave he had grabbed it from. Then he turned to Scott and unzipped the pack, tucking it inside.

"I feel weird carrying something like this, it's like stealing," Scott told him, shifting the pack like it was suddenly a lot heavier.

"You know, for being someone born in a crappy time, you certainly have really strong morals, I don't understand how we've stayed together so long," Stiles joked, patting Scott on the shoulder.

"You keep me around because I stop you from doing all the really bad things, and I keep you around to break the rules for me, that way my slate stays nice and clean," Scott smiled.

"Oh I see, I'm just here to take all the bad karma! That's great, you're the reason I got shot in the head then! It's your fault for giving me bad karma when we had to go dig up graves. You didn't even help, something about desecration or whatever. You really don't belong in this time period man," Stiles complained.

Scott took it all in stride, "It's not my fault you are morally ambiguous and are okay with doing all the things that attract bad karma to begin with."

"Shut up, let's go back to Sunny so we can learn how to make us some healing powder, although I have a feeling I'm going to be needing it more than you."

The brothers laughed as they made their way back to Sunny, stopping by all the water wells to skin the Geckos they had killed, might as well harvest their meat for later. By the time they returned to Sunny, their arms were full of the meat to cook and hides to roll up.

"I see you boys have been busy, did you get the stuff?" she commented.

"Sure did," Stiles said as Scott took off his pack to rifle through it, pulling out the Broc Flower and Xander Root.

"Alright, now I can show you boys how to make some Healing Powder," she said, taking the ingredients from him and crouching over the campfire.

In a few simple steps, she had the root ground up and then added in to flower, pulling out a small burlap bag to dump the mix in. Then she stood up and handed it to Scott, telling them how simple it was. She told them that was all she really had left to teach them, but to come back and visit from time to time in case she learned any new recipes.

"Oh, and stop by the Saloon to say hi to Melissa, she loves to greet any and all travelers. She'd be hurt to hear that I helped you boys out and didn't even send you to say hey. She might even have some information on the guy that gave you that scar?" she added on, pointing to Stiles's temple.

"Thanks, we'll do that, right after we finish cooking up this meat so it doesn't go bad."

They waved as she made her way back towards the center of town, the boys stoking the fire to cook the meat. About an hour passed and the sun was finally starting to set when they had all the Gecko meat cooked and pack away, wrapped up in old papers.

"Time to go back to town and see what we can find out about Peter?" Scott asked.

"Yup, let's go."

Scott and Stiles entered the Saloon, turning the corner to approach the bar when they saw a dark-skinned man in a Kevlar vest, NCRCF stamped across the back of it. They slowed down, not wanting to attract attention and Scott turned his head so he could focus on what he was saying.

"I'm done being nice. If you don't hand Ringo over soon, I'm going to get my friends and we're burning this town to the ground, got it?"

"We'll keep that in mind. Now if you're not going to buy anything, get out."

He abruptly turned around and pushed passed them, muttering, "What the fuck are you looking at?"

They watched him go before turning back to the lady he had been talking to, wondering what had just happened. Before they could say anything, she spoke up.

"You boys have been causing quite the stir, happy to finally meet you both, I'm Melissa; what can I help you with?"

Scott looked at her earnestly, "We couldn't help but overhear that argument, what was that all about?"

Melissa sighed as she walked back behind the bar, "Looks like we got dragged into something, and I really wish we hadn't. This trader by the name of Ringo came into town about a week ago, said that he survived some kind of attack and needed a place to hole up for awhile. He told us some bad men were after him, but we didn't actually think they'd follow him here!"

Stiles scowled, "Great guy bringing so much trouble to this small town. What are you going to do about it?"

"Some people like Sunny will probably offer him help, if he decides to ask," Melissa shrugged. "But personally I'd be a lot happier if he just snuck out one night and didn't come back; that way we'd all avoid some trouble. I really don't feel like dealing with the Powder Gangers."

Scott and Stiles looked at each other, "Powder Gangers?"

Melissa gave them a surprised look, "Don't know them? I guess that's a good thing. They're a chain gang, don't let them tell you otherwise. NCR brought them in to work on the rail lines, hoping to get them up and running again,"

Stiles groaned, "Did they serious hand over a bunch of dynamite and blasting powder to inmates?"

Both of them had worked on some railways before, needed to make some quick cash, so they knew all of the tools involved for something like that. Was the NCR really that idiotic?

Melissa nodded her head, "They managed some big escape not long ago, and now we're stuck dealing with them and the NCR has their thumbs up their asses. And that man, Joe Cobb, seems to be the self appointed leader of them."

"Why not just kill him then? Should make most of your problems go away," Stiles suggested.

Scott elbowed him in the ribs, "Stiles, do you have any morality at all?"

"What? He's an asshole, the world won't miss him or anything, it's not like I'm suggesting that we torture him mercilessly. Just… dispatch him, and viola, problem solved."

Melissa shook her head, "Murder isn't how we solve things around here, even for scum like Cobb. We'll figure something out I suppose."

Scott leaned over the bar, "Where is this Ringo guy anyways?"

"Holed up in the abandoned gas station, just up the road from Doc Deaton's place," Melissa said.

"What if we decide to help this Ringo out?" Stiles asked. He already knew Scott was wanting to, when Melissa had first mentioned he was in trouble, Scott had given him the puppy eyes. Might as well find out what was in it for them while they were talking about it.

"Well, you'd definitely be helping the townsfolk out a whole bunch, so your reputation would skyrocket, which of course could lead to a discount here and there. But… if you decide to help him, the Powder Gangers are going to be mad, and they have a lot of friends out there."

Scott growled, "They aren't people we'd want to be friends with anyways, so that doesn't matter. And at least if they attack us first, we'll be defending ourselves."

Melissa slowly nodded her head, giving the two boys an appraising look; they might be rough around the edges, but she could tell they had decent hearts.

"While we're here, do you think you could tell us a little about the guys that um, almost killed me?" Stiles asked, hoping that she'd have something they could go on.

She nodded her head, "They did stop by in here, acting like they owned the place, even tried to get free drinks, but I made them pay up. Although one of the Great Khans decided to 'accidently' knock over my radio and it's been broken since then. A shame too, I liked catching some outside information every now and again."

Scott perked up then, "I might be able to fix it."

Stiles tried not to roll his eyes, he was such a people pleaser, and he really seemed to like Melissa (he did too if he was being honest).

"That would sure be nice of you, I'd give you caps for your effort," Melissa smiled, she really did miss her radio.

Scott went around the bar and started fiddling with the radio while Stiles asked a few more questions, "So, did that asshat ever mention where he was heading?"

"Well, they were arguing about something, and I know I heard one of them mentioning coming down from Quarry Junction, but the guy in the flashy jacket kept shushing them, so I didn't catch much. Although truth be told, if they came from Quarry Junction, I'm not surprised they ain't going back that way. That place is crawling with critters you don't want to mess with. All the merchants that come through avoid that stretch of I-15 like it's radioactive… which it could be for all I know," Melissa said, looking thoughtful for a moment.

"Right, note to self, stay away from Quarry Junction. Is it too much to hope that you may have heard where they were headed?"

"Nothing specific, but there was a lot of talk about The Strip, so I'm fairly certain that's their destination. But if they want to get there and avoid I-15, he's going to have to go east and take Highway 93 up."

Stiles slapped his palm down on the wooden bar, "Thank God you heard that, you're awesome Melissa! At least now we have a direction to go, and the safe way to get there."

Just then they heard a crackle and music started filling the room, Scott letting out an excited whoop as he got it to work.

Melissa turned around and pulled him into a tight hug, thanking him over and over as she pulled a handful of caps out of her pocket and pressed them into his hands. Stiles watched as Scotty beamed and hugged her back, happy to have helped a person in need; he really was such a nice person, Stiles really couldn't fathom why he stuck with Stiles for so long. It wasn't hard to tell that Stiles had no problems with doing questionable things, but Scott was so genuinely nice, that it felt like they shouldn't get along.

"Well I guess we better head on out and see what's up with Ringo before we follow Peter's trail. He's already got quite the head start on us, it can't hurt to postpone it another day," Stiles shrugged.

"Please make sure that Cobb doesn't follow you, Ringo seems like a good kid, even if he did bring all this trouble here with him," Melissa asked, reaching across the bar to pull Stiles into a hug as well.

"Careful is our middle name!" Scott replied, draping an arm around Stiles as he straightened. Then he looked down and saw the scar and corrected himself, "Well, it's my middle name… Danger is his middle name."

Melissa and Stiles both started laughing as soon as he said that, waving goodbye and heading out the front door. They turned to the right and started heading up the small hill, already seeing the old gas station from the road. Scott was still beaming as they walked in silence; Stiles couldn't really be sure, but he had starting thinking that Scott must get some kind of spiritual energy when he helped others. There was no other way to explain his happy moods, it just wasn't natural! But after all their time together, Stiles really didn't care, he was happy to have his own personal ray of sunshine out in this crap-hole of a state. When they got to the building, the boys scrounged around for a bit before tossing open the door, but they stopped dead in their tracks; there was a guy in here pointing a gun at them, again.

"That's close enough. Who are you boys? And what do you want with me?"

Scott stepped in front of Stiles, hands raised, "Easy there, we're not looking for any trouble. I take it you must be Ringo?"

After a moment of consideration, he lowered his weapon, "Okay, sorry, I'm a bit on edge, and you just barged in here… can't really afford to take any chances you know? Let's start over, I'm Ringo, a trader from the Crimson Caravan Company. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Scott, and this is my brother Stiles, we came looking for you after we heard Cobb giving Melissa a hard time in the Saloon. Did you know he's in town already?"

Ringo rolled his eyes, "I figured he'd catch up before too long, although I notice he didn't make his appearance until _after_ the sun went down. I know he's afraid that if I catch sight of him, I'll shoot him, which is true. I'm more worried about when all of his friends show up, I can't take them all on…"

"Wait, why are they even after you?" Stiles asked, coming out from behind Scott.

"The caravan I was in was on the way back from California, heading up to the New Vegas branch when we got jumped. They didn't even give us a warning, just started shooting; we did our best, but we were outgunned, and outmanned. I did manage to hit some of the bandits before I ran for it. I figure this is their friends coming after me for revenge."

"What are you going to do about it?" Scott asked, a worried frown on his face.

"Well, I'm hoping to just lay low for as long as I can, wait for things to blow over… assuming that the townsfolk don't just throw me to the wolves. I can't take on the whole gang by myself," Ringo said, shrugging hopelessly.

Scott shared a look with Stiles, and he nodded his head, Stiles couldn't say no to Scott…who couldn't say no to someone in need.

"We'll help you," Scott offered.

Ringo scoffed, "Yea, like the three of us would stand a chance, we'd just end up all sharing the same grave-"

Scott and Stiles both growled, although Scott's was more guttural; the thought of dying to some idiotic chain gang so soon after Peter wasn't acceptable.

"You severely underestimate our skills," Stiles shot back. "You really think a couple of bullets would put us down for the count?" he asked, pointing to his new scar.

Scott crossed his arms, "We've recently been to Hell and back, I wouldn't really test us right now. We've got a score to settle and nothing is going to get in our way of that."

Ringo looked them over, "If you've so recently gone through a hard time, all the more reason to be careful right now. Being reckless is only going to get you to your graves faster. If we got more of the townspeople involved then we'd be much better off, don't you agree?"

Stiles fumed, starting to really not like this guy's attitude, here they were trying to offer some help and he basically threw it back in their faces… who was he to assume they weren't good enough to take on some lame gang? Stiles clenched his fists, if only he still had his baby, the gangers would be dead. He'd just have to find himself a nice vantage point and they wouldn't even know what hit them. Literally. And Scott would be down in the action to sweep up any stragglers, but no, this guy wanted to put even more people in danger.

Scott picked up on his anger easily, putting a calming hand on his back, knowing exactly what Stiles was thinking, "We can ask around, but you really shouldn't be expecting these innocent people to put their lives on the line for you. Don't start expecting much."

"Start by asking Sunny, she's been real nice, more so than the others in town, let me know what she says," Ringo told them, ignoring Scott's comment.

Stiles just turned away and pushed his way back out the door, stomping down the hill, Scott right behind him. "Can you believe that Jackass? He's ready to try and recruit the whole town to his side, to fight his battle for him. If he can't take on his own enemies, he's not going to get far!"

"I know, but it can't hurt to ask, anyone that doesn't want to help out we can have them stay in their houses. The more that decide to help, it will be easier," Scott tried to placate.

"If I still had my damn gun, this would never even need to be an option, I don't want Sunny to get shot just because she thinks she needs to help this guy. It's bad enough that you might get shot Scotty, and I know you'll heal," Stiles practically shouted, throwing out that last part as a rushed whisper. "We may joke about my moral ambiguity, but at least I don't needlessly risk other people's lives."

Scott watched as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself, hands reaching up to massage his eyes. "Let's just go ask her, I'm sure she'd probably get offended if we let this fight go down without her anyways. And Ringo will skip out on the fight if we don't at least get one more person on our side. It's only fair that he at least participates in the showdown."

Stiles nodded his head and the two pushed their way back into the Saloon, hoping to find Sunny there. They didn't see her right away but they heard Cheyenne barking, she must have smelled them because she came bounding around the corner to greet them.

"Hey, sticking around for awhile longer?" Sunny asked as she came around the corner to see who Cheyenne had found.

Stiles nodded, but let Scott talk, he knew he'd have a bitter tone if he was the one to ask.

"We're uh, thinking of helping Ringo out, and he's worried that just the two of us aren't enough-"

"Quite the rude assumption," Stiles muttered, interrupting his friend.

"I'm sure he'd feel more at ease if you were to lend us a hand," Scott finished, not so subtly knocking Stiles in the ribs.

Sunny snorted, "Well, considering that you two were recently almost in a grave, he might have a point."

"That's only because he was a Were, and we didn't know it… the guy that had us delivering the package failed to tell us it was a highly sought after item… cheapskate! If he had told us, we would have been more prepared. But thanks to trying to save some caps, we were left in the dark!" Stiles ranted, obviously a little bitter that they had been lied to and had almost died because of it.

Sunny nodded in understanding, "Well, I hadn't known any of the details, not even why you had been shot. Really sounds like someone gave you the short end of the stick, sorry. But you have to realize, not a lot of people are comfortable with being outmanned. And if he doesn't personally know your skill, of course he's going to want more help. Don't hate him for it. But to get back to the question, I'd be more than happy to help. I want those gangers out of our hair for good."

"Awesome, that was easy, Ringo should be plenty happy now," Scott grinned.

"I do think it would be good to get a few more hands in this, at least to show the Powder Gangers that we aren't a town of pushovers you know? Everyone in town really looks up to Melissa, why don't you ask her what she thinks about this, and if she'll join us. If she does, a lot of other will too."

"Whoa, I don't want Melissa getting hurt," Stiles cut in, looking uneasy.

"She knows how to handle herself, don't you worry," Sunny smiled. "Also, maybe we could ask Easy Pete to share some dynamite, and I know Chet just got in some leather armor. We should talk to them as well."

"I guess we can, if you really think so," Scott offered, trying to please everyone.

"Oh, and, maybe talk with Doc, see if he has any extra stimpacks lying around, we'll probably need those. Can never be too careful when it comes to a gunfight," she added on.

Stiles groaned but nodded his head; he really didn't want to ask favors of all these people, but she seemed hell-bent on getting their help, so they might as well ask around. Scott smiled at her in thanks as she took off towards the door, but she suddenly turned around.

"Um, just a few words of advice, Melissa is going to feel more secure if she knows we have a solid plan. Chet won't just let his armor go either, even if the town is at stake, so be prepared to barter… And Easy Pete, he's pretty protective of his stuff, he won't be handing it over unless he's sure you know how to handle yourself. So if you can't get help from everyone, I understand."

They waited until she left to head on back around to the bar, glad to see Melissa was still awake.

"Hey, Melissa, could we ask you for a favor?" Scott opened, sliding onto one of the stools.

She gave him a knowing look, "You going to take on Cobb and his friends? You're taking a big risk, but I suppose you boys know what you're doing."

"Would you like to help out? Sunny is sure it's going to be excited, and she says you know how to handle yourself, might be fun."

Melissa chuckled, "Well, it has been some time since I've had to put out my old shotgun, maybe I should get a little practice in while I can. Sure, I'll help."

Scott and Stiles both smiled this time, liking Melissa even more than before, at least she wasn't afraid to stand and protect what was hers. They left to go talk with Chet after a few more minutes of discussion; Melissa promised to ask around, surely some people wouldn't be afraid to stand up for their town. She gave them the same warning about Chet as Sunny did, but she couldn't argue the fact that he had supplies they could use. They went next door to the General Store, finding Chet in the back room, getting ready to head to bed.

"Hey, sorry to catch you so late but, Sunny and Melissa were wondering if you'd be willing to help us out in a pinch?"

"Is this about that Ringo fella? My opinion: we should just hand him over, it's not like we need to get mixed up in this problem," Chet answered, crossing his arms. "But don't go thinking I'm a chicken for saying that, we're all survivors here and I'd fight tooth and nail along with everyone else if push comes to shove. I just don't think we should go looking for trouble is all."

"But, we were hoping you'd be able to give us some supplies to help out in the fight," Scott mumbled, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

"Whoa, like I said, I'm not voting for the fighting side of this issue, that's a big investment to try and take them on," Chet argued.

"Come on man, the town is at stake here, is that really worth more than a few supplies? If we lose, you can bet the Powder Gangers aren't going to go easy on you just because you weren't a part of the fight. They're here to try and take over this place, Ringo surrendered or not. I know the types, they think they can boss this town around Chet. We need your help dude," Stiles pushed, wanting him to understand.

Chet groaned, but Stiles could see that his argument had won him over, "Alright, you've made your point, I can provide some people with leather armor and extra ammo… I hope this is all worth it. But make no mistake, I'm going to be guarding my store while all of this is going on, my business comes first."

"Thanks a lot man, Melissa and Sunny sure will appreciate this!" Scott exclaimed. Chet just rolled his eyes, still feeling like this was an awful idea, and shooed them out of his store.

After talking with Chet, they decided to go look for the dynamite master, although he wasn't at his usual spot at the front of the Saloon. They had a hard time finding Easy Pete, they didn't know which house was his, but luckily they found one of the ranchers out tending to his animals so they asked him. Luckily he knew where Pete could be located and the boys headed on over, hoping he wasn't going to be too grumpy at the late night visit. Knocking on the door, they waited as they heard some groans and the creak of a mattress, and then the door opened.

"Hey, we were wondering if you'd be willing to help us out, we're going to be dusting the Powder Gangers and Sunny said that if we got our hands on some dynamite, we'd definitely have the upper hand," Scott asked.

"Too dangerous, gonna kill yourselves if I let ya touch it, no, it's better off buried. A lot safer that way."

Scott deflated but Stiles stepped forward, "Sir, we've worked on the rail lines before this, so we've handled dynamite before, we know all about the safety and handling procedures."

They held their breath as he looked them over, eventually deciding that they were telling the truth, "Alright, I'll go dig it up, have it ready by the time the fighting starts up, but you best be careful with it."

"Thank you so much, I promise we'll be the only ones handling it, that way no one in the town gets hurt," Scott said, reaching forward to shake the older man's hand.

They bid him goodnight and decided to head on over to the Doctor's house, hoping that he wasn't going to be too put out by their request. When they knocked on Deaton's door, he answered it rather quickly, like he was expecting someone.

"Oh, it's you two, wasn't expecting this, you don't need to be patched up again already do you?"

"No, thank goodness," Stiles laughed as he welcomed them inside.

"We don't want to take up too much time, it's just that the Powder Gangers are coming into town and we're all going to make a stand. Do you think you could give us any spare medical supplies?" Scott asked, feeling bad for asking.

Deaton sighed, "I don't have much, but I'll give what I can, these folks are my friends. I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but maybe with you two helping out, there won't be much bloodshed… at least on our end."

They waited just inside the door as he left to go round up some stimpacks, both boys feeling really guilty about it. When he came back, he handed over 5 of the packs, which Scott carefully tucked away.

"We'll pay you back for this Deaton, I promise. I know you're doing it for the good of the town, but we understand how scare these supplies are. Plus we still have to repay you for saving my life. Whenever we head back this way, we'll make sure to drop some stuff off," Stiles promised, not wanting to take advantage.

"Oh you don't have to do that, really, just help make sure the town doesn't get taken over by those bullies," Deaton told them, not really believing they'd come back to visit Goodsprings.

"We'll wipe them all out, that's a guarantee," Stiles nodded solemnly.

He stood at the door, watching as they went further up the hill, something about those two boys intrigued him, but he pushed the thought away. It wasn't like he'd be seeing them again anyways.

Scott knocked on the door this time before entering the station, wanting to avoid getting shot. Inside they saw Ringo and Sunny, both looking at them expectantly.

"Good news, we got everyone to help out, Melissa even said that she'd ask around to see who else might want to lend a hand. Pete said he'd have the dynamite ready by the time the Gangers show up," Scott revealed.

Ringo relaxed, leaning back against the wall in relief, and Sunny congratulated them, "I'm sure it wasn't easy to convince him to hand over his explosives, but I'm glad you did. And Chet probably gave you a hard time too, but their help will definitely make a difference."

"Yea, now all we have to do is wait," Stiles shrugged, looking around.

"Yea, I doubt they'll be attacking at night, not when they don't know the area, but gathering from how pissed Cobb was earlier, they'll be here first thing in the morning, so we should get some rest," Sunny suggested. "You boys could crash at my place, I only have a couch to offer, but it beats the floor right?"

"Yea, that sounds good, we've definitely slept on worse. And that way we'll be right there when the bad news rolls into town."

"Come get me in the morning, and we'll take 'em down," Ringo stated, feeling much more confident now.

"Yea, whatever, bye Ringo," Stiles said over his shoulder. He could really care less about him, he was more worried about protecting the town right now.

They followed Sunny back to her place, and she gave them a spare blanket to share and bid them goodnight before disappearing into her bedroom. Scott and Stiles wasted no time, pulling off their shoes and lying on the couch, ready for sleep. They decided to just spoon on the couch, figuring that would be the best way to conserve body heat and share the blanket; it wasn't like they were embarrassed by it. Scott offered to take the inside of the couch, he had a higher body temperature so he'd be able to keep Stiles warmer this way. After they shifted around to get comfortable, they easily fell asleep after their long day, and tomorrow sounded like it was going to be exciting.


	6. Arriving in Primm

*On The Road*

Isaac was in high spirits as they moved on, leaving the Ants on the road since they had no need for any more meat right now. Derek tried to hide the smile on his face, but he was glad that Isaac was feeling better about his abilities; it hadn't been hard to see that Isaac tried to ignore his wolf abilities since he had gotten the Bite. He probably blamed it for almost getting him killed, and resentment went a long way to block out a wolf's instinct. Derek was going to do his best to train Isaac, he wanted him to understand how much a gift his wolf could be, if he accepted it. Although given his poor condition, Derek was completely surprised the Bite hadn't killed him; but the wolf gene must have sensed something in him and his body didn't reject it.

"So, I know it's still really early and all, but could you maybe tell me more about how I can control my phasing?" Isaac asked.

"Well, first you'll need to find your anchor, something that keeps you grounded, have you experienced your first full moon yet?" Derek asked, stopping his explanation.

"No, I was bit around the last full moon, which means it's coming up again right?"

"Yea, I'm going to have to prepare you for that, it's 2 days away, well nights I guess. Full moons are difficult to master, especially your first one; even for a born wolf like myself. So the sooner we find your anchor the better. It can be a person, a thing, a feeling, just something that calms your heartbeat and reins the wolf back in. The bloodlust is at its peak during the full moon, so it will be hardest to control then. I'm actually really surprised you've done so well on your own this whole month, a lot of Omegas are a lot more feral than you."

"That might be because I hated my new predicament, if I shunned it, could that be what helped me keep my humanity?" Isaac asked.

"Yea, although that's not a healthy way to continue to keep it at bay, eventually it will rear its head and demand recognition. So now that you are starting to accept it, we have to find something that helps you maintain control over it. Controlling your urges needs to be mastered before you can control your phasing, the phases are tied to your emotions. So I can't really be of any help when it comes to finding what works, it depends on your experiences and thoughts, I can only explain how it works and offer examples. Your phases are also unique to you, how you control them will differ from me; and which phase is your first one might not be the same."

Seeing the confused look on Isaac's face, Derek launched into more of a show than a tell, "My first phase change I learned to control was my ears, then my claws, teeth, and finally tail. Shifting into my Alpha form was a completely different thing, but since you don't have to worry about that, we'll skip it for now. But as I was trying to explain, I learned how to shift my ears first," he concentrated and felt his ears shift and grow. "See? I can make my ears pop out without making any other traits form. But yours might not be your ears first, it could be your claws, or your tail. Make sense?"

"Yea, but how come they aren't all tied together? Like they are either all there or not?"

"Well, that's because you can use it to represent your moods, and how bonded you are with your wolf. For example, my tail is controlled by my happiness, if I'm feeling extremely happy, my tail shows and wags. It takes a lot of self control to stop my tail from forming in those conditions. My teeth and claws are more in tune with my anger, so when I'm mad, they have a higher chance of shifting without my control. Of course when I'm fighting, they come out, but that's because I'm working together with my wolf at that time. Still with me?"

Isaac processed for a moment before nodding his head, "So what about your ears? What makes those come out?"

"For me, it's paranoia, and as a kid, I was always scared that Humans were going to find my family. I started to realize that when I felt nervous, my ears would almost buzz with energy, and my parents taught me about the various shift controls. So when I learned to control my nervousness, I was able to make my ears go away. Then, if I want them to come out, I just have to think back on that feeling of when I was little and I thought Humans were nearby and they come out. So if they ever just come out and it isn't because I'm trying to listen to something, it means I'm feeling paranoid."

"Whoa, I never would have thought about that at all, like I said, I thought they were all tied together, but they are all separate? So I can figure out what controls my tail right away and make it go away, but then be stuck with my ears for awhile?"

Derek chuckled, "Yea, basically. But first, we need to control your urges, since the moon is coming, then after that passes, we can work on the whole phasing thing. So to give an example, my anchor is anger. In order to maintain control, I think about what happened to my family and it just angers me; usually that makes it harder for you to control your wolf so I don't suggest it, but for me, it brings clarity. It's like it cuts through the wolf haze and I can see straight again, that's the feeling you'll be looking for. It will be hard to find right now since you're fully in control, but the sooner you start thinking about it, the more you'll have to try when the moon does arrive."

"Okay," Isaac nodded, understanding. He went quiet after that, thinking back on what it felt like to really connect with his wolf when he had been fighting the Ants, how he felt like it wasn't really him that had control of his actions. It was more like he sitting on the sidelines as someone else controlled his body. But it felt good, it was something he could trust, someone that would take care of his body in ways he couldn't because he didn't understand. And now Derek was telling him that when the full moon came, he'd have to fight for control, and he wasn't sure how to really do that. Anger was probably the wrong choice, like Derek said, but he wasn't really sure what else he could use to counter that, he didn't really have a lot of happiness to go around. As they continued o walk, Isaac remember that Derek mentioned it could also be a person, or a thing, not just a feeling. Maybe he'd be better off trying that route instead; he was about to ask Derek about it when his wolf stiffened, at the same time Derek did.

"Off the road," Derek said in a gruff whisper.

Before Isaac even had time to react, Derek had grabbed his wrist and practically threw him behind some rocks. Isaac clamped his hand over his mouth to stop himself from asking questions, he knew that something was going on and questions could wait. He watched his Alpha as he concentrated, noticed how his ears were pitched forward, so he tried to do the same thing. Isaac slowed his breathing and focused on his hearing, asking his wolf to lend him strength; within moments he could suddenly hear the faint crunching of feet on the pavement. He couldn't be certain as to how many people there were, but it had to be at least two because the sound was too erratic to be coming from a single person. He hesitated a moment before tapping his Alpha on the shoulder, hoping to make this into a learning opportunity as well.

Derek glanced over at the Beta, hoping he knew better than to speak with Humans so close, but one glance told him that Isaac would remain quiet. Instead, he pointed to his ears, then made a walking motion with his fingers and then held up a 2 with a questioning look on his face. Isaac wanted to know if he was hearing two people, Derek smiled, he was trying to learn. Derek held up three fingers in response and Isaac concentrated more, trying to pick out the subtle differences in the steps. Now that he knew there were three for sure, he was able to pick out the heavier sounds of one person, and then the quicker step of a second- their light steps coming in much faster than the others. Now that he was able to pick those two apart, he heard the faint shuffling of the third person, but he was brought back when Derek tapped him.

Isaac watched as Derek pointed to his nose, and then gestured to his ears, and then made his ears human and pointed to them again. He thought for a moment and realized that Derek wanted to know if he smelled Humans or Wolves. So he focused his instincts on his sense of smell, raising his head to try and catch the faint stirring of air coming from over the top of the rock. It took him a moment to finally catch their scents, although he struggled as he tried to sort through them; he had no idea how a Werewolf smelled different from a human. He opened his eyes and frowned, barely catching himself before he let out a frustrated whine. Instead he turned towards Derek, leaning in and sniffed him, categorizing his scent deep into his brain. Then he sniffed himself, which was a little harder to categorize since he had pretty much blocked out his own scent long ago. Derek waited patiently, still listening as the footsteps came even closer to them, and now they were close enough for him to clearly make out what they were saying.

Isaac sat with his eyes closed, trying to pinpoint what might be similar about their scents; he picked up on something, but then he recalled his father's smell, and that of the other gang members and realized they all had it too, so that must be 'male'. He pushed that to the back of his mind and focused some more, and then his brain caught something that made his ears flicker. When he pinpointed the specific essence, he felt his wolf come alive, that had to be the telltale wolf aura. He couldn't pull up that particular scent from his father or the other gang members, only from him and Derek, so that had to be the one he was looking for. Now that Isaac was certain he had 'wolf' and 'male' identified, he tried once more to figure out the group on the road. The strong smell of 'male' came to him, so he was certain that none of the travelers were female. He kept sorting, picking up a singular 'wolf' aura and Isaac figured out that the 'human' smell made his nose tingle. It was difficult to describe the scent, there were no real words to express the particular smell that was 'human' or 'wolf,' it was easier to just describe how they effected him. He'd have to remember that for later, so he could ask Derek about it when it was safe.

Isaac turned to Derek and held up two fingers and then pointed to Derek's ears, then one finger and pointed to his own, silently answering his question. At Derek's nod, Isaac beamed, eyes glowing from the praise; Derek patted his arm and then shifted his ears again, to listen in on what they were talking about.

"Dammit Jesse, why are we taking him all the way to the Outpost, it's going to take all night. What if he attacks us?"

"Quiet! James wouldn't do that, besides he was just bit, the transformation can't happen that fast. The Outpost is the closest place that I know will take him in, I ain't going to leave him out here to die… or cause any problems for others."

The unnamed man grumbled under his breath before adding, "Do you think he'll be okay? I mean, what is the NCR going to do with him?"

As Isaac heard this, his breath hitched, he hadn't thought about how the NCR feels about Weres at all since he'd been changed… As it was, in the Scorpion Gang, you avoided the NCR at all costs- that had been ingrained in him, so he hadn't ever seen a soldier up close. Isaac should have realized it would be a problem, half of the people in the area didn't like Weres so it made sense the NCR might not either. But at the same time, no one had reported him to the NCR, so did that mean they didn't care?

The guy named Jesse was silent for a moment as he thought about it, "He should be fine, I mean, I wouldn't take him there if I'd heard any bad stories. I know a lot of people don't like Weres… but it's not James's fault you know? He didn't ask to be bitten, and he wasn't born like this. A lot of people are just afraid, I'm just hoping they'll have someone there that can help him get a handle on this you know?"

The group was quiet the rest of the way, Derek waiting until he could no longer hear their footsteps before standing up to look around. He nodded when he saw the coast was clear, helping Isaac to his feet. Slowly, they made their way back onto the road, still keeping their ears open for the sounds of footsteps, just in case.

"D-do you think the NCR will really help him? I haven't run into any of the soldiers yet, what do you think will happen?" Isaac asked, hoping Derek would have a good answer.

"Well, I think it's a good sign that when I crossed over the border, no one asked for my species status. I mean, I could have lied since I don't have the telltale signs of being a Were, but a lot of people know that not all Weres have their tails and ears showing. I think as long as you aren't causing problems, it will be okay; if anything they'll just want to make sure he's not a part of the Legion. They'll probably focus more on the Were that attacked him and where it happened; back where I was, they didn't persecute Weres for existing, only if you bit someone without their consent."

As he explained, Derek looked over at Isaac and could see him slowly calming down, "Honestly, in my experience, a lot of people dislike Weres because of the Legion, but if you aren't with them, most people will give you a chance. But I'm sure we'll still find places that refuse to do business with us, regardless of our affiliation." When he noticed the immense flood of relief coming off of his Beta, he quickly added, "And besides, since I'm responsible for you, I wouldn't take you out in your shifted phase if I thought it was dangerous. I'm new to the area, but I've dealt with the NCR before so I know how they operate, well at least on the basic level. I even know a few Weres that were in the NCR, although they had been bit during their career. But the point is that the NCR didn't discharge them for their change in species, just their allegiance.

"I'm glad you know so much about all this… I hadn't given it any thought once I was turned, I just knew a lot of people didn't like me now. But if I learn how to change or shift, it won't be a problem anyways."

They continued to walk in relative silence, quickly nearing a town, one that had a large beaten down roller coaster; Isaac's eyes widened, immediately recognizing it- they had made it to Primm.

"Can we stop here? I know that they accept Werewolves here, at least a little bit; I stopped by here on my way south to get some food," Isaac informed him as they neared the town.

"Sure, we should see if we can't find a place to stay for the day, I'm in no hurry to go anywhere," Derek answered.

They slowly wandered through the town, Isaac leading them towards a large building on their left. Derek looked up, Vikki & Vance Casino, interesting name; and across the way was the Bison Steve Hotel. Isaac led the way into the Casino first, clearly wanting to see what they had to eat, despite the fact they had food in Derek's pack. But to Derek's surprise, he was wrong, Isaac shyly turned to his Alpha and confessed his reason for coming here first.

"When I stopped by the first time, I saw that there was a Were working here; I didn't actually talk to her or anything, I got my food to go. But I'm hoping she'll help us out, tell us more about the area."

Derek smiled, "Sounds good, I'm glad they employ Weres here, I'm impressed."

They entered the Casino and most of the patrons turned to look at them, doing a slight double-take when they saw Isaac tail and ears. But no one accosted them so they stepped further into the building, heading over to the bar. On their way across the floor, a security guard quickly stepped up, holding up a hand for them to halt.

"Just want to check and make sure neither of you are affliated with The Legion, I'm assuming not since you aren't wearing their style of outfit, but one can never be too sure."

"No Sir, I hate the Legion, they're giving a bad name to Weres everywhere," Derek answered, doing his best not to growl.

Isaac shrugged, "I've never even met anyone from the Legion, so no."

The security guard chuckled at Isaac's answer, but waved them on, "Just wanted to make sure, we'd prefer if they didn't show up here and start trouble. Please have fun."

Derek nodded his head in understanding, glad that the good folks in the Legion wore distinguishing outfits. They sat down at the bar and asked the bartender what there was to eat, Derek only half listened, he was also busy scouting out the casino floor to get a feel for the people here. He wasn't surprised to see a few Weres here and there gambling at various machines, but it was mostly regular humans as far as he could tell. He and Isaac placed their orders and waited, Isaac belatedly worried about the money.

"I didn't even think Derek, I don't know how many caps you have, I still have some, but not a lot," Isaac mumbled.

"It's fine kid, if it was a problem, I wouldn't have ordered anything, don't worry about it," Derek assured him, patting his back.

Isaac brightened, glad that he hadn't made a mistake, then he perked up, catching sight of the same blonde Were from before. "There she is, she's the one I saw before."

Derek followed his gaze and saw a pretty blonde wolf carrying a tray to the various tables; she was wearing a very tight tank top, barely covering her bosom, and short black skirt, her tail coming out over the top of it and swaying freely. She must have picked up on Isaac's words, or their scent because she looked over at them and tilted her head, curious. After she had made her rounds, she came back over to the bar to pick up the latest orders and she stopped to talk with Derek and Isaac.

"Hey there boys, what brings you to Primm?"

"Just passing through really, Isaac here said that they were Were-friendly so we decided to stop for the night," Derek responded easily.

"For the night, there isn't much left of it really, but suit yourself. Name's Erica by the way, call me over if you need anything. Although, may I ask a question?"

"I'm Derek, and yes you may."

"Why is a human traveling with a Were?"

Isaac furrowed his brow, couldn't she tell that Derek was a wolf? She could surely recognize the scent by now, but Isaac took a quick sniff, and realized that Derek did smell human, much to his surprise. Derek just chuckled, flashing his red eyes at her as an explanation; Erica's ears perked up and her irises turned gold. She'd never actually met an Alpha before, or at least none that had identified themselves as one. Her own Alpha was long gone, once the people in Nipton had found out she'd been bitten, they notified the NCR of a dangerous Were in the area. It wasn't long before he'd been dispatched, but that still left Erica without a place to go. So she packed up her things and left, and here she was now, in Primm, with a job. Clearly he didn't want to let everyone know he was an Alpha, so she didn't say anything else, just smiled and took her tray of drinks.

Derek kept his eye on her as they ate, she seemed friendly enough, maybe when she got off work, they'd be able to talk with her, ask some questions. She definitely seemed like a more seasoned Beta, so maybe she'd even be able to give Isaac some pointers. But he did wonder where her Alpha was, surely she had been taught by someone, there was no way he'd run into two uneducated Weres in just a few days. Once they had finished their food, Derek paid the bill and they were heading out to the hotel just across the way, but before they left, he waved Erica over.

"I was wondering when you got off work?"

Erica gave him a look, brow raised, wondering if maybe he was trying to proposition her, but Derek quickly clarified. "I'm completely new to the area and Isaac isn't well traveled either. Maybe you could tell us a bit about the area? Even give Isaac some pointers? Hearing things from another Beta might help, especially a turned Were and not a born Were."

"You can tell that I'm a turned Were?" Erica asked.

Derek nodded his head, "There is the subtlest of differences in the scents between the two, most don't catch it, especially if the Bite was received a long time ago. But yours is still fresh enough for me to catch; would that be okay?"

Erica smiled, "Only if you tell me some stuff in return! But I'd be happy to, I don't get off for a few hours, and I'm sure you're tired. But I can be here in the morning, say around 8? We can talk then after I've gotten some sleep."

"Sounds good, thank you," Derek said, giving her a small nod before he turned away.

He could tell that Isaac had more questions for him, but he figured the young Beta was a bit too tuckered out to actually ask, so once they got their room for the night, Derek told Isaac to sleep.

"I'm sure you'll remember your questions in the morning, no hurry to ask them all now, I can tell the food made you sleepy. Get some rest, I'll wake you up when it's time to go meet Erica."

"'K, thanks Derek, for being a good Alpha," Isaac reiterated as he crawled into the bed.

Derek smiled and set his pack down, lying down on his own bed and shut off the lights. It felt good to sleep somewhere other than on rocks, he was going to sleep good tonight.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter =D hope you're enjoying it!


	7. Saving Goodsprings

*Goodsprings*

Scott and Stiles woke up just as the sun was peeking over the hills, both of them popping of the couch in a haphazard manner. They grumbled, half awake and stretching out their kinks, Stiles quickly bringing up breakfast.

"Think Sunny might share some food with us?" he asked.

Scott rolled his eyes, "We have plenty of food Stiles, we got all that Gecko meat from the other day, calm down."

"I'm just saying, it would be nice to actually have properly cooked food, from an actual kitchen, and not a fire," Stiles scowled.

Scott was going to respond but they heard Sunny walking around in the other part of the house; they probably woke her up and both boys felt embarrassed. But Sunny opened her bedroom door a moment later, completely dressed and smiling at them.

"Oh, glad to see that you're both awake, are you ready to go hunt some Powder Gangers?"

"Hell yea! Well, maybe eat first? I don't think too many others would be up this early," Stiles said hopefully.

"We've got some cooked Bighorner steaks if you want to eat on the run, I know those Gangers will be eager to make a move on us. We've got to collect the troops and get into positions, that Cobb doesn't mess around."

"We're pretty good at eating on the move, thanks for the meal," Scott immediately threw out there, being the polite person he is.

Sunny went into the kitchen and grabbed some of the dried steaks, tossing them at the boys as she made her way to the front door, "Come on, let's go!"

The boys both followed, munching on their steaks as they headed back towards the center of town (which wasn't far at all). On the way there, they passed by the farmer's house and Stiles paused, looking at the three Bighorners still in the pen then at the steak in his hand. Bighorners weren't rare at all, but he had never walked right by one as he was eating one of their brethren; Stiles felt a little guilty about it. Bighorners were gentle creatures (mostly), even if they were a little alarming to look at- they were large hybrid goat creatures with ram-like horns protruding from their skull, curling backwards. They had shaggy grey fur everywhere except for their face and top of their spine. The youngsters were already as tall as he was, and their momma was a good half foot taller than him. In his honest opinion, they face was the scariest part of them, with their bare pink skin and cruel looking gaze. Realizing that he fallen behind, Stiles waved to the Bighorners and crammed the rest of his steak into his mouth, jogging to catch up with Scott and Sunny.

"Alright, so we've got most of the participating people hanging out in the Saloon, waiting for the action to start. Everyone else is prepared to defend their homes until the all-clear."

"Where's What's-His-Name?" Stiles asked, almost choking on his meal.

"Ringo? He's still at the gas station, I'm about to go get him, so go ahead and find a position, things are going to heat up fast," Sunny replied.

Stiles nodded, "Sounds good, let's go Scott."

He pulled his rifle off his shoulder and scanned the surrounding area; as a sniper, he needed a nest to hide out in during the battle. He was by no means a close-combat expert so the further away from the actual fight, the better, he'd leave the hand-to-hand stuff to his brother.

"Hey Scotty, boost me up onto the roof, come on."

Scott readily agreed, figuring that was a pretty safe spot for him, with all the townspeople on the street level, the odds of one of the Gangers seeing him and taking him out were pretty slim. So they climbed up onto one of the rusty dumpsters on the side of the Saloon and then Scott gave him a quick lift, making sure he was properly settled before taking off across the street. The wind was coming in from a South-Southeast direction and he could smell Cobb, just barely- so he knew which direction they would be coming from. He crouched down behind the charred remains of an old house and waited, breathing in through his nose to catch the scent. It wasn't long before he heard the sounds of rustling all around him, it seems like everyone else in the town was making their move and preparing for the shootout.

A strong gust of wind came their way and Scott caught the strong scent of 'male' coming this way but when he searched the road, he didn't see anyone. Feeling a little apprehensive, he scanned the brush on either side of the road, easily picking up on the crawling forms that were coming closer. Apparently the gangers wanted to get as close as possible before being detected, but luckily for Goodsprings, Scott had been able to catch their scent and knew they were within a hundred yards. Scott twisted around and waved, catching Stiles's attention, easily signaling that there were about 5 guys he could see and that they were sneaking up from about 100 yards. Stiles responded with a thumbs-up before Scott heard him whispering the information down to Melissa. Assured that the people would prepare accordingly, Scott turned back around and started to creep forward, staying by the houses to conceal his presence. He was hoping to sneak up on a few of the gangers and quickly disable them, making it easier for everyone- the fewer that made it to the town, the quicker it would go. Scott disliked killing if it wasn't completely necessary, but had no problem rendering people unconscious and maybe breaking a few bones. Plus it didn't hurt that most wounds weren't very fatal to him so it was much safer for him to be out here than anyone else (even if no one but Stiles knew about his Werewolf status).

It wasn't long before he picked up on the sounds of the men preparing to spring up and make a dash for the town center; thankfully they were deciding to stick together as a group and head straight for the main defense and not go house to house to rustle up hostages. That made Scott's job much easier. He stayed crouched as they made their way past his hiding spot, the men slowly starting to stand up and get their weapons ready. Glancing around, Scott found a hefty rock and snatched it, taking deep breathes to calm himself and tune into his wolf senses. As soon as they were a few feet past the him, he crept up behind the slowest member, raising the rock up and bringing it down over the Ganger's head, trying his best to reign in his wolf strength. With his free hand, he caught the now unconscious man and slowly laid him down; thankfully none of the others had noticed him yet.

Scott realized then that his count had been off, including the guy on the ground, there were actually 7 Powder Gangers; shit, that meant Melissa wasn't properly prepared for this. Just as Cobb and a few others came fully into view and started shooting, Scott surged forward and grabbed another one of the men, no need for secrecy any longer. He wrapped his arms around the guy's throat, effectively getting him in a choke hold and holding on tight until he passed out- dropping him rather rudely onto the ground.

Up on the Saloon roof, Stiles was laid out, rifle perched on the edge, and wishing he had a scope. But, his eyesight was good enough, and it wasn't long before he spotted movement down the road; he readjusted his weapon in his shoulder and gave a low whistle, letting Melissa know he saw someone. He needed them to come closer, Stiles hated wasting ammunition and with no scope at all, he wanted a larger target to shoot at. Taking deep breaths and slowing his breathing, Stiles brought his heartbeat down-until a loud thump came from his right and his heart rate skyrocketed, the gun almost jumping right out of his hands. Looking to his right, he saw a burlap sack sitting there now, barely registering what he saw in it before he heard Sunny's low whisper.

"Pete's dynamite, he said to bring it straight to you or Scott and to not lose any limbs."

"Thanks," Stiles whispered back, one hand over his chest as he tried to collect himself again. "A little warning next time would be appreciated… good thing my finger wasn't on the trigger."

A quick scan of the road told him he had a few more moments to spare, so he reached into the sack and took out a few sticks of dynamite and lined them up on his left, along with his lighter. Satisfied, he readied his rifle again, just catching Scott take out one of the guys and then the shooting started. Instantly Stiles heard Melissa and a few others shoot back but most of their shots were wild and none of their adversaries went down. So he took aim and easily shot one guy in the chest, hardly taking time to register that he went down before he had focused on another target. The Gangers advanced quickly, knowing that their pistols weren't good at such a distance and that most of the settlers weren't the best of shots. Stiles swore, shooting down his second target before he released his rifle and picked up a stick of dynamite; once the fuse was lit, he raised to a crouch and threw the dynamite right into the Gangers path. Sadly they saw it land and scattered before it exploded, taking only minimal damage. But it paused their advancement and that was the main point-it gave him enough time to pick up his rifle again and continue shooting. Before he could take another shot, he heard a woman cry out in pain, from somewhere below him and pulled out his pistol. Without hesitation, he leaned over the roof and saw that Cobb had managed to get close- he had grabbed Melissa and was holding his gun to her head.

Time slowed down, it seemed like Stiles could count the seconds in between the shots fired just yards away. Stiles didn't hesitate, he thrust both arms forward and took aim; he had a crappy vantage point and Cobb was holding Melissa right in front of him so if his bullet passed through Cobb, Melissa would get hit too. He swore, deciding that he's have to wing him and just hope for the best so he aimed at Cobb's right arm, the one holding the gun and squeezed the trigger. Fate must have decided to be kind to Stiles that day because Cobb reacted by jerking his arm down once the bullet entered his skin- much better than reflexively pulling the trigger! Melissa immediately reacted, elbowing him in the stomach and ripped herself out of his grasp. But Cobb let her go, turning to look for the asshole that decided to shot him and it only took him a moment to register the skinny guy with his upper body hanging off the roof.

"You die," was all Cobb said, raising his .357 revolver.

Scott cheered when he saw Stiles shot down one of the gunmen; now that everyone was involved, Scott decided that it was time to head back to his brother. When he saw Stiles throw the dynamite a few moments later, he covered his sensitive ears and crouched down, waiting until it exploded to keep moving. He came up to the burned down building just as he saw Cobb kick Melissa shotgun out of her hands- when had he gotten that close? How had no one seen him? Melissa struggled but Cobb hit her across the face with the butt of his weapon and grabbed her, forcing her in front of him as a hostage. Scott wanted to call out, to get someone's attention but he also realized that if anyone saw Melissa like this, they'd probably give up the fight. Cobb couldn't win like that, especially when he'd still probably kill everyone here just because they stood up to him. Thankfully Stiles had also heard her cry out, Scott watched and he crawled forward and held out his out gun. Scott continued to creep forward, knowing Stiles was carefully lining up a shot, but he wanted to be ready to pull Melissa to safety.

Unfortunately Stiles wasn't able to get a debilitating shot, but it was enough for Melissa to get away and Scott rushed forward, pulling her behind him to shield her from any further injury. But Cobb hadn't come after Melissa, instead he looked up at Stiles, gun raised. Stiles cried out and barely managed to roll over when the first shot came, although it left him in a very precarious position. From here the world was upside down and he could feel gravity starting to drag him down off the roof. He kicked his legs wildly, trying to roll back onto his stomach and also give Cobb a very uneasy target, although he was only a few feet away. It was a miracle that the first bullet had missed him. Just before Cobb readjusted his aim, Stiles managed to roll over once more, hands pressed on the wall of the Saloon to steady himself. He heard a loud growl and suddenly Scott was behind Cobb, one hand under his chin and the other along the back of his head.

Stiles watched in morbid fascination as Scott, with his fangs out and amber eyes glowing, savagely twisting the Ganger leader's neck to the right. He barely registered the gasp from Melissa before he pushed himself back onto the roof, he needed to get down there and make sure no one else saw Scott! He stuffed the dynamite back into the sack, slung the rifle over his shoulder and holstered his gun. He jumped back down onto the dumpster and as soon as his feet touched the ground, Scott was there, nose pressed into his neck. Stiles held him close, letting him snuffle knowing that it calms him down and centers him; and everyone else was checking on Melissa.

"I'm fine Scotty, I'm fine, I promise," Stiles soothed.

Scott was fine after a moment longer, fangs receding back and eyes going back to their regular brown. "Good, I didn't almost lose you the other night just to have you get shot today!"

"Come on, let's go see what those Gangers were carrying," Stiles nudged.

Scott chuckled and let himself be led out towards all the bodies, keeping his head down and not looking at the others. They picked up some caps, a few more guns Stiles could patch up and resell and Cobb even had a Stealth Boy on him. As they were rummaging, Ringo ran up to them and gave Scott a small pouch of caps.

"Here, I really owe you boys a huge favor… technically this is Crimson Caravan funds, but they'll understand once I explain everything that happened. Thanks a bunch for decided to help me out, it really does mean a lot."

"No problem man, we can't let bullies like that come into this town full of nice people, I'm just glad we were around when it happened," Scott said, tucking away the caps.

"Yea, I mean, Sunny is one badass chick, but the more guns the merrier right?" Stiles added on, tossing a smile Sunny's way.

The townsfolk all helped drag the dead Gangers away from the town proper and left them to be picked off by the wildlife. Scott mentioned the two others he had dispatched, admitting that he had no idea if they were alive or not but Melissa said the town would take care of it.

"Thanks for saving me you two, I know you didn't have to, but you did," Melissa said, once the rest of the folks had walked away.

"Well, you are really nice, we couldn't let Cobb hurt you," Stiles told her.

Melissa smiled at them, "You both will always be welcome here, you've helped Goodsprings out a lot, and we never forget kindness."

"I-I don't know…" Scott mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"Really, it's fine Scott, your kind is welcome here; we know you aren't Legion and that's all that matters. Especially since you saved us all, so don't feel ashamed to be yourself around us."

"Do you mean that? I mean ever since I've learned how to control my Werewolf I've kept it hidden. Stiles helps me to keep it under control, I don't know what I'd do without him."

"I'm not going anywhere buddy," Stiles promised.

"I know you have places to go and that you really want to find the guys that roughed you up, but please come back and visit us."

"Of course we will, I mean I owe Deaton my life after all, I can't repay him if I never see him again."

"Speaking of Peter and them, where do you think we should head first? I mean, I know we don't want to go Quarry Junction, but I feel like we're not fully prepared to head to New Vegas yet. I don't know, I'd rather not rush things and have Stiles get shot again, but I also want to hunt him down as fast as I can and ruin him."

"Try heading to Primm, I remember Deaton mentioning that you were a courier, maybe talking with someone from the Mohave Express there will help. Maybe they could help you figure out why you were attacked."

Scott brightened, "That's a perfect idea Melissa! You're the greatest."

He pulled her into a hug, Stiles quickly joining in, wanting to make sure they both appreciated her. She ushered them in to have a few drinks, on the house of course, to congratulate everyone on winning. Most of the town was already in the bar, buying each other drinks and having a good time now that stress was gone. Stiles gave Scott a subtle look, silently asking if he could have some whiskey; Scott thought for a moment but he couldn't deny Stiles a few drinks, he'd done good today. Besides, Stiles definitely needed to relax, he'd been working hard before Peter shot him in the face and today he did save Melissa.

"Just don't drink too much, I'm not carrying you to Primm!" Scott warned.

Wouldn't think of it Scotty, you know I don't like to drink that much, just enough to enjoy the party."

Scott laughed as he watched Stiles head over to the bar to get a glass of whiskey to sip while they planned their next steps. He wasn't sure how far it was to Primm, his Pip-Boy didn't have it listed so that meant they hadn't been there yet but it shouldn't be a problem. He was glad that he'd gotten the Pip-Boy from his parents before they passed away; Stiles had one too and it was definitely helpful. This was _the_ last time they took an assignment without actually visiting a Mohave Express to get exact instructions!

"Hey buddy, got you some Nuka-Cola," Stiles told him, sliding into the seat across from him.

"Thanks, I was feeling a little thirsty," Scott responded, "Hey, how far do you think Primm is from here? It's not on our Pip-Boys."

Stiles shrugged and the two of them began discussions, most of the other townsfolk stopping by at least once to thank them. Planning took until the late afternoon, Melissa stopped by every now and again bring them some more Nuka-Cola. Stiles tried not to lean into Melissa's touches; every time she walked by she gave them a pat on the back or ran her fingers through their hair. It made him miss his mother, and he really didn't want to think of her now, not when he needed to stay sharp. He cleared his head and leaned forward, putting all of his attention into what Scott was saying.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter is here =D Hope you all are continuing to enjoy this story. And also for a few quick explanations.

Bighorners: They look like a large mix between a goat and a bovine, growing larger than the average person. As stated in the story, they have shabby gray hair that grows to medium length but there is no hair that grows on their faces or along their shoulder blades. Instead they have their bare skin which makes for a very fierce looking face, coupled with large horns sprouting from their heads. Raised Bighorners are docile but any that you come across in the wild are very territorial and will charge.

Pip-Boys: these are gadgets that one wears on their wrists and have very many useful functions. They keep a map of your location and of the places you've been, as well as allows you to keep notes (quests) so you don't forget where you are supposed to go or who you might need to talk to. It can even monitor your health and injuries, updating instantly as you are treated. Not everyone has Pip-Boys, there were mostly given to the citizens that lived in the Vaults to stay safe from the nuclear fallout years before. Many of the people out in the Wastelands don't have Pip-Boys as they were not born in the Vaults.

Stealth Boys: A rare device that lets the user become invisible... essentially. It cloaks the person with a stealth field for 2 minutes; it has a modulator that transmits the light from one side of the person to the other, making it appear as though they aren't there although if one looks closely or the users moves to fast, they are easily spotted.


End file.
